MUZAFFARABAD: Six members of a family were killed and another survived with injuries in a road accident in Jhelum Valley district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday, officials said.

The victims, who were coming to Muzaffarabad from Chakothi in their car met the accident at about 6pm near Chinari bazaar.

“While crossing the landslide-hit portion of the road, the car veered to the right and fell onto the left bank of Jhelum River,” said Deputy Commissioner Hameed Kiyani.

The vehicle stopped a few yards short of falling into the river otherwise it would have been swept away, he added.

However, since the nosedive was too big all but one of the seven people on board died on the spot. The deceased were identified as Yasir Sadiq, 28, his wife Aroosa, 25, and seven months old son Hanain, brother Aneeq, 18, sister Noureen, 22, and another relative Aazeb Shabbir, 7. Owais, 12, survived as he fell out of the car when it nosedived.

Local people, police and army personnel pulled the bodies from the wreckage. They were handed over to the relatives in Chakothi on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2017