MUZAFFARABAD: Seven people, all of them close relatives, were killed after a loader-rickshaw carrying them plunged into a deep ravine in Haveli district of AJK, prompting the government to announce two days of mourning in the area, officials said on Friday.
The deceased, aged between 20 and 30 years, belonged to Jokan Ganji Galli and Kalsan villages.
They were returning to Forward Kahuta, the district headquarters, after a sightseeing trip to Hilla’n waterfall when the accident occurred near Mannumor on Thursday afternoon.
The rickshaw skidded off the road and plunged around 400 feet into a ravine, leaving the vehicle completely wrecked.
Mohammad Idrees Gakhar, who was behind the wheel, and Sardar Bilal Iftikhar died on the spot, while others suffered critical injuries.
A doctor at the DHQ hospital said that two of the victims brought there were dead on arrival, while others had suffered severe head and spinal injuries.
The doctor said the injured were administered first aid but, due to the unavailability of surgeons and ventilators at the DHQ hospital, they had to be shifted to the army’s Mobile Surgical Team (MST) in nearby Tachhan village.
From there, the injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalakot where three of them namely Faisal Iqbal Gakhar; Aqib Hidayat Khan; and Umar Iqbal Khan died.
The remaining two injured — Waqar Riaz Khan and Shahzeb Afridi — were shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, where they passed away on Friday morning.
Funeral prayers for four of the deceased were offered at Jokan Ganji Galli before Friday prayers, while those for two others were held in Forward Kahuta after Friday prayers. The funeral of the seventh victim, whose body arrived from Islamabad later, would be held on Saturday.
At a condolence reference in Kahuta, speakers criticised the district administration over what they described as a delayed rescue response, and paid tribute to residents of Khurshidabad, including women, for retrieving the injured and transporting bodies of the victims using loader vehicles due to the absence of government ambulances.
They urged Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore to order an inquiry into the alleged administrative negligence.
Lamenting the poor condition of roads in the area, they said that since most routes near the Line of Control were strategically important defence roads, they should be upgraded to National Highway Authority standards to help prevent frequent accidents.
Both the federal and AJK governments should take practical measures for improving rescue services, healthcare facilities, traffic management and road infrastructure in Haveli district, they added.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rathore expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and announced two-day mourning in the district.
He announced Rs1 million each for heirs of victims.
