July 01, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1429

MURREE, June 30: As many as nine people, including three women, were killed on Monday when a Barrian-bound passenger jeep fell into a ravine near Danna Misrial some 30km from here.

A jeep (IDA-4829) with 13 passengers on board was heading towards Barrian from Pluck village of Galyat. When it reached near Danna Misrial, the driver lost control of the vehicle which fell into a ravine. Nine persons died on the spot. Two persons, Sajjad and Wahid, who were the sons of the driver, managed to save their lives by jumping off the falling jeep.

The dead were identified as driver Abdul Rehman, Ghafoor, Mazhar Shah, Mubarik Mughal, Sagheer, Saira, Tauseef, Mrs Afghan Ahmad and Mrs Abdul Razzaq.

The residents of Danna village, present on the spot, told this correspondent that the body of a 10-year-old child had not been found so far, but the police did not confirm this. Five of the dead belonged to the same family.

It may be mentioned here that overloading of jeeps on link roads between Murree and Galyat has become a normal practice. Dozens of people die every year due to break failure and other faults that develop in the old jeeps.

A jeep, which the traffic department clears for eight passengers, is packed with over 40 people. Old jeeps are plied on these roads as there is no control of traffic authorities in the village areas. Most of the drivers do not even have driving licences.

When this correspondent asked policemen present at the scene of the incident as to why they did not check this grave negligence, they said they could not control this practice which was quite common in far-flung villages.

Mr Mohsin, a policeman, said when they took action against drivers of old vehicles, political figures intervened and hushed up the matter.

People of the village have appealed to the highups to take necessary action in this regard and prohibit plying of old vehicles.