MANSEHRA: Two women were killed and 16 other family members critically injured when a crowded jeep they travelled in fell into a deep ravine in Satbani area of Balakot tehsil on Monday.

The accident occurred as driver Sajid Haroon lost control of the jeep while negotiating a sharp turn on the slippery road.

The locals shifted the injured to the Balakot Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced Mumtaz Bibi and Sahib Noor dead and referred four children to the Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad. Condition of eight people was stated to be critical.

The police said the family was bound for Balakot from Satbani to attended a wedding function.

Robbers gun down tourist in Kaghan

Meanwhile, robbers killed a tourist and three others in their tent in Noori Top area of Kaghan valley on Sunday, police said.

They said the firing left Raja Azeem of Islamabad dead and Mohammad Mudassir of Gilgit, Mohammad Faizan of Peshawar and Asfandyar of Quetta injured.

The police said the robbers decamped with the tourists’ Rs90,000 cash, camera and other goods.

They said the injured were shifted to the Balakot Civil Hospital.

The police said they had begun search for killers after registering an FIR.

MEDICAL COLLEGE: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan is likely to inaugurate the first medical college in Mansehra district next month.

Provincial health secretary Amir Sultan Tareen visited the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital here on Monday and said he along with a team of experts from the Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, would finalise an appropriate building in the city or on its outskirts for the public sector college.

“The chief minister will inaugurate the [medical] college soon,” he told reporters.

Accompanied by local MPA Babar Saleem Swati and adviser to the chief minister on population Ahmad Hussain Shah, the secretary said the medical college’s opening would help improve healthcare in the region.

FLOOD RELIEF: The district administration on Monday began relief activities in Kandia valley of Upper Kohistan district following flash floods.

“We have dispatched a trucks’ convoy to the affected valley where flash floods affected the crops and houses were inundated,” Mohammad Asif told reporters.

He said 46 relief packages comprising quilts, blankets, tents, utensils and food items were dispatched to the valley.

Mr Asif said his administration would ensure fair distribution of packages and would conduct a survey to assess damages for compensation.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2022