At least five people lost their lives and four others were injured after a passenger vehicle plunged into the Neelum River in Azad Kashmir on Sunday.
The vehicle, traveling from Kel to Tau Butt, fell 200 feet into a ravine and landed in the river near Karimabad in Tehsil Athmuqam, rescue officials reported.
The vehicle was carrying around 20 passengers, with seven still missing.
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“We have recovered five bodies so far,” said Muhammad Mukhtar Ayyub, Rescue 1122 in-charge for Neelum Valley. “Among the deceased was a 12-year-old boy. No women were on board.”
Rescue 1122 members, police, army, district administration officials, and local volunteers were involved in the search and rescue efforts.
“We have called in professional divers to recover the missing persons,” Ayyub added, noting that the injured had been taken to the hospital.
Manzoor Ahmad Butt, assistant commissioner of Neelum district, declared an emergency at Civil Hospital Tau Butt.
“The injured are in stable condition,” Butt said. “There were seven tourists from Multan district, Punjab, in the vehicle; the rest were locals.”
Butt mentioned he was overseeing the rescue operation, and the local community was actively working to find the missing passengers.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to lax traffic rules and poorly maintained roads, especially in rural areas. In the mountainous regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, road accidents are frequent.
