MANSEHRA: A man was killed and 24 others were injured when a Gilgit-Baltistan bound passenger coach plunged into a deep ravine in Kohistan on Tuesday.

Sources said that 18 army soldiers were also among the injured.

“A man was killed and 24 were injured in the accident. They were taken to a nearby hospital,” said Sarwar Shah, a police official in Dassu.

The accident occurred in Ochar Nullah when the drive of the coach, going to Gilgit-Baltistan from Rawalpindi, lost control over the wheel while negotiating a sharp turn.

18 army men going to Siachen also among the injured

According to official sources, 18 army soldier, who were going back to join their duty at Siachen after leave, were also injured in the accident.

They were shifted to combined military hospital in Gilgit after emergency treatment at Dassu hospital.

The killed passenger was identified as Mohammad Shafique, a resident of Gujranwala, Punjab. His body was sent to his native village.

Mr Shah said that local people and police rushed to the scene of occurrence and retrieved the body and injured from the ditch and shifted them to district headquarters hospital in Dassu.

According to doctors four injured were in critical condition, said Mr Shah.

SHOPS GUTTED: At least 20 wooden cabins and shops were reduced to ashes when fire broke out in Shinkiari on Tuesday.

“The fire, which spread within no time, gutted more than 20 wooden shops, causing huge financial losses to small-time traders,” Zakir, a butcher, told journalists.

The fire tenders reached the spot immediately after receiving the information but before their arrival almost all shops in a row were burnt.

Eyewitnesses were not sure about the cause of the fire. Some said that it was caused by short circuiting of electricity while others said that a garbage dump, set on fire by the local traders, ignited the fire. The affected traders demanded of the government to compensate them for the financial losses.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2014