14 of a family, driver drown as van falls into Indus River

MANSEHRA: Fourteen members of a family and a driver drowned when a van plunged into the Indus River in the Panibah area falling in the limits of the Dasu Police Station in Upper Kohistan on Monday.

“We have fished out the body of a woman stated to be the wife of the family’s head and search is underway for the bodies,” Arif Javed, District Police Officer (DPO), Upper Kohistan, told reporters on Monday.

The DPO, who had rushed to the scene along with Deputy Commissioner Arif Khan Yousafzai after the incident, said the vehicle had been found and being retrieved from the river through a crane.

He said that a van carrying family members of one Sattar Khan was on its way to Rawalpindi from Chelas via Karakoram Highway when the driver lost control over the steering wheel.

The vehicle skidded off the highway and plunged into the Indus River. “The police, Rescue 1122and local divers are taking part in the rescue operation but flooding in the river is hampering the efforts,” Arif said.

The official said that Sattar Khan was shifting his family to Rawalpindi from Chelas when the accident took place. The dead were identified as Khush Alam stated to be van driver, Sattar Khan, Watif Khan, Bariat Khan, Maqsood Khan, Mohammad Khursheed, Sakhawatullah, Sadena Bibi, Biyana Bibi, Addem Bibi, Fareen Bibi, Neelam Bibi and her daughter, Tasleem Bibi, Banafsha and Noshari.