5 killed, 19 injured as bus falls into ravine in Haripur

HARIPUR: At least five passengers, including two women, were killed and 19 others injured when a passenger bus plunged into a roadside ravine on Tarnava-Kohala Road in Khanpur area here on Tuesday.

The cause of the accident, according to injured passengers and police, was reckless driving.Deputy Superintendent Police, Khanpur, Muhammad Uzair Khan said that a Kohala- bound passenger bus, carrying 25 passengers from Rawalpindi, was when it fell into a ravine near Bagran Sarbaroot village. As a result, five passengers died on the spot and 19 others sustained injuries.

The dead included Yasmeen Bibi, Khatoon Bibi, Gul Hasan, Muhammad Zaman and Noor Ali. According to police and hospital records, the injured included nine women, a minor boy and nine adult males. Three critically injured passengers were referred to the Haripur Trauma Centre.

The villagers and police carried out the rescue operation and shifted the dead and injured to the roadside from the gorge on their backs and transported them to Khanpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

Meanwhile, Tehsil Nazim Raja Haroon Sikandar, PTI’s leader Raja Shahab Sikandar and Yousuf Ayub Khan reached the hospital and inquired about the health of the injured.