Five dead as vehicle plunges into gorge

MANSEHRA: The five members of a family including a man and his son were killed when a pickup vehicle plunged into a deep ravine in the Karo area of Lower Kohistan on Thursday.

“The bodies of all five dead have been retrieved from the ravine and shifted to the nearby health facility,” Zulfiqar Khan Jadoon, district police officer, Lower Kohistan, told reporters.

The vehicle, which was on its way to Gilgit from Rawalpindi, went out control and plunged into the deep gorge when the driver was negotiating a sharp turn.

A police party led by Jadoon rushed to the spot along with Rescue 1122 and retrieved the dead from the ravine.

Those who lost lives in the accident were identified as Mir Alam, Mohammad Farooq, Fazl Wahid, Bulbul Nabi and his minor son, whose name was yet to be confirmed.

“We have dispatched bodies of all fives to Gilgit through ambulances from the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Pattan,” Jadoon said. He said that motorists and drivers should drive slowly and carefully while passing through Kohistan district via Karakoram Highway for their own safety and that of their loved ones and passengers.