At least 26 people were killed and two injured after a passenger bus plunged into river in Kandia tehsil of Upper Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday. The unfortunate bus was carrying 35 passengers, including women and children when it met with an accident near the Kandia tehsil.
Police said, all the passengers belonged to the same family and were travelling to attend a function. DPO Kohistan Raja Abdul Saboor while speaking to the media said the final police report will be announced after investigators probe into the accident. He added that police and rescue officials were facing difficulties in carrying out the relief and rescue operation due to darkness and unavailability of resources.
Civil Defence general secretary Ubaidur Rehman told reporters that the victims including women and children belonged to two separate families. "We fear that the children's bodies may have moved downstream towards the Indus. Lack of resources and facilities are hampering the rescue work," he regretted. He said police, civil defence volunteers, locals and divers were all assisting in the search for the bodies.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan expressed his sorrow for the victims' families and directed the deputy commissioner to expedite the search operation and use all available resources to find the victims and cooperate with the affected families.
Kandia is located in Upper Kohistan, which has been badly affected by frequent flash floods, making its roads extremely dangerous for travel. About 70 suspension wooden bridges are being used for crossing the Kandia River and other streams, but most of the bridges are in dilapidated condition.
Comments
Comments are closed.