SKARDU, Aug 17: Nine persons were killed and 10 others injured when a van plunged into a ravine here on Tuesday, sources told Dawn. They said that the van was on its way to Skardu from Markanja. On the Trangi Lungma-Shigar road, the driver lost control of the vehicle which fell into the ravine.

The dead were identified as Mohammad Hussain, Akbar, Ashraf, Khadeeja Bibi, Zahra, Bano, Ghulam Raza, Haji Rustam and Qasim. The injured - Akhund Mehdi Ju, Sajjad Hussain, Niaz Ali, Amna, Akbar, Wazir Ghulam Yaseen, Mohammad Iqbal and Iqbal Hussain - were shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Skardu where three of them were stated to be in a critical condition.