HARIPUR/CHITRAL: Two members of a family were killed while three others injured when a van skidded off the Hazara Motorway in Haripur on Sunday.

Sera-i-Saleh police quoted injured persons as saying that the family from Mohallah Ilyasi Masjid Abbottabad was on way to Islamabad in a van when the vehicle skidded off the road near Shah Maqsood Interchange and fell into a gorge.

As a result, two persons identified as Sajid Khan and Waqas were killed on the spot. The injured included Sajjad Ahmed, his son Bilal Ahmed and Maria Bibi.

The dead and the injured were shifted to Haripur Trauma Centre, wherefrom the injured were referred to Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad.

Meanwhile, two sisters drowned in Chitral River in Drosh town on Sunday afternoon.

An official at Drosh police station told Dawn that Ayesha, 12, and Hadia, 10, residents of Mohmand tribal district, were playing along with other children in Wardap village when the younger sister slipped into water. In a bid to save her, the elder sister jumped and also drowned.

The body of Ayesha was retrieved from the downstream Naghar village, while efforts were on by the local people and the officials of Rescue-1122 to fish out the second body.

Meanwhile, two young women committed suicide by jumping into the river over unknown reasons in Upper Chitral.

The police said a woman, 20, allegedly jumped into the river in Shogram village.

The second incident took place in Shagram village in Torkhow, where a married woman, 21, reportedly ended her life by jumping into the river.

The police are conducting inquiry to ascertain the reasons of the deaths.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2020