11 killed, eight injured in road accident near Murree

Eleven passengers were killed while a dozen got multiple injuries when a Rawalpindi-bound passenger van plunged into a ravine at a Salgran, a picnic spot in Murree, on Sunday.

The bus, which was carrying 20 passengers from the hill town of Murree to Rawalpindi, lost traction on a slippery road amid rainfall, rolling on its side as it fell down a slope.

According to officials of Rescue 1122, a passenger van (LES 1923) coming from Rawalpindi with 25 people on board met an accident at Salgran, a famous tourist spot near Rawalpindi, and plunged into 150-meter deep ravine. As a result, as many as 11 passengers died at the spot while a dozen got multiple injuries, who were later shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad.

"Eleven passengers have been killed while a dozen got multiple injuries in the accident. The injured and dead bodies have been shifted to PIMS," In charge Rescue 1122 Rawalpindi told The Nation.

A spokesperson of PIMS also confirmed that 11 dead bodies were shifted to PIMS while 12 injured were admitted to the emergency ward.

Officials of Murree Police Station said rescue operation was over and initial investigations were on. The rescuers said the victims trapped in the wreckage of the wagon were pulled out after cutting the body of the vehicle.

"We will investigate thoroughly to sort out what had made the ill-fated van plunge into ravine," Muhammad Sohail, officer on duty at Murree Police Station, said when contacted. He did not rule out the possibility of bad weather causing the accident.

It is worthy of mentioning here that it was the second accident in the current year as on January 8, 2014, a dozen of passengers were killed when two passenger busses had collided with each other and plunged into ravine at the same spot of Salgran.

Since January 2013, more than 130 people have been killed or injured in 11 traffic accidents on the same spot at Salgran.

The popular hill resort Murree is situated around 50 kilometres northeast of Islamabad and attracts tourists from across the country.

Bus accidents are common on the mountainous track to the hill town because of careless driving and speeding.

However, after the latest accident, the residents of the area have criticised the local administration and the traffic police for their failure to check speeding and overloading by the public transporters which they said was the major cause of the increasing fatal accidents in the mountainous area.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

Monday 24 March 2014

http://www.nation.com.pk/national/24-Mar-2014/11-die-in-murree-van-plunge

http://www.dawn.com/news/1095190/10-killed-eight-injured-in-road-accident-near-murree