DADU: Four tourists were killed and three others were injured when a double cabin vehicle overturned on Gorakh Road at Khawal Luk and fell into a deep ditch.

Police and revenue officials took the bodies and the injured to local hospital in Wahi Pandhi and Dadu Civil Hospital where the injured were admitted for treatment.

The deceased were identified as Saleemullah Rind who was a mukhtiarkar by profession, Wahid Bux Khakhrani, Gul Hassan Junejo and Mojoo Gopang, all residents of Larkana district.

The injured tourists were identified as Rasheed Ranjhani of Dadu, Mohammad Aslam Siyal of Larkana and Akbar Rajpoot of Larkana, who was said to be in serious condition.

Dadu SSP Aijaz Shaikh said that local police reached the scene of the accident within no time and shifted the bodies and the injured to local hospital.

Dadu Deputy Commissioner Sami Nissar Shaikh said the tourists’ vehicle overturned due to brakes’ failure. The bodies were sent to their native areas and the injured were admitted to hospital for treatment, he said.

The tourists had gone to visit the top of Gorakh Hills Station a day ago and were returning home on Sunday when the accident happened at Khawal Luk.

Gorakh Hills Development Authority chairman Sardar Rafiq Ahmed Jamali said the tourists met the accident when brakes of their vehicle failed and it fell into the ditch.

Expressing grief over the loss of lives, he said that the authority’s staff, police and district administration officials immediately reached the spot, rescued the injured and took out the bodies.

Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh linked the accident with inadequate utilisation of development budget for Gorakh Hills Station.

Billions of rupees budget for the tourist resort was not utilised in a proper manner, said a party spokesman in a press statement quoting Mr Shaikh as saying.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2021