Eight drown as van plunges into river in Chitral

CHITRAL: In a tragic incident, at least eight passengers were drowned after a van they were travelling in plunged into a river in Upper Chitral area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), ARY News reported.

According to the details, the van was carrying around 10 passengers when it suddenly plunged into Yarkhun River in Upper Chitral last night. Sources said that the accident took place when the van was crossing a bridge on the river.

After being informed, police and rescue officials reached at the spot and launched a search and rescue operation. Local volunteers and police rescued two people from the river.

However, the rescue teams have retrieved four bodies so far while four other passengers are still missing.

In a similar incident yesterday, at least eleven people, three children among them, were killed while 13 others wounded after a passenger van fell into a ditch near Kohala early Saturday morning.

According to the police, the ill-fated van was travelling from Rawalpindi to Chakothi when it met the accident.

Read More: Six killed as car falls into ditch in Azad Kashmir

On getting information, rescue teams and ambulances reached the site and shifted the bodies and injured to a nearby hospital. The police said those killed in the accident include three children.

Expressing sadness over the loss of lives, Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Mohammad Farooq Haider summoned a report about the cause of the accident from the authorities concerned.