MUZAFFARABAD: Eight people were killed and another six injured in two road accidents in the suburbs of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) capital on Monday.

Both accidents happened in the jurisdiction of Garhi Dupatta police station due to frost on roads, police said.

The first accident occurred at about 7am when a wagon travelling between Dachor Faqeera’n village and Garhi Dupatta town skidded off the road and fell 200 feet down into a field, said Zaheer Ahmed, a police official based in the area.

As a result, three of the six persons on board, including the driver, died on the spot. They were identified as Murad Abbasi and passengers Sain Khan and Iqra Bibi. The injured were identified as Kabeer Abbasi, Nisar Abbasi and Rafique Abbasi.

The second accident occurred at about 9am when a jeep travelling between the high altitude Sat Pihali village to Karoli village along the main Jhelum valley road slid across the iced up track and fell around 150 feet down through a rock strewn ravine.

As a result, five people, identified as Sakina Bibi and her son Ehsan, Ghulam Rasool, Khalid Ayub and Abdullah, died on the spot, police official Ahmed said.

Bibi’s husband Mohammad Altaf who was on the wheel and passengers Mohammad Siddique and his spouse Khateem Bibi were injured critically, he added.

Expressing grief over the loss of eight lives and injuries to another six persons, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider prayed for deliverance of the departed souls and early recovery of the injured persons.

In a tweet in Urdu, he also called upon people to exercise caution during driving through the rain and snowfall affected hilly areas.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2021