SHANGLA/LOWER DIR: Nine persons, including three children, were killed and four others injured in two road accidents on Friday, the police and local residents said.

Five people, including three children, died and three others sustained injuries when a jeep fell into a ravine after the driver lost control over the steering in Puran tehsil of Shangla district.

Aloch police station SHO Khurshid Khan told Dawn that a mini jeep was taking back a family after attending a wedding ceremony of a relative in Ragishom village of Puran when it fell into a ravine.

He said five people, including three children, died on the spot, and three others were injured.

He said the injured, including a woman, and the bodies were brought to Pir Mohammad Khan Shaheed Hospital, Aloch Puran, wherefrom the injured were shifted to Saidu Teaching Hospital in Swat.

The police identified the deceased as Bakth Rokhan, Gul Tajeroon, Ali Shah, 4, Salman Khan, 7, and eight-month-old Salwa Bibi.

The bodies were handed over to relatives after completion of medico-legal procedure.

Meanwhile, four persons, including two women, belonging to the same family, were killed and a child was injured when the car they were travelling in plunged into a deep ravine in Sacha Maira area of Khall, Lower Dir, on Friday, the police and residents said.

They said the family was coming from Barawal area of Upper Dir to the District Headquarters Hospital, Timergara. They said the driver lost control over the wheel when the vehicle reached Sacha Maira area.

As a result, the car driver, Abdul Ghani, his son Ayan, Hina Bibi and Kausar Bibi died on the spot, while a girl child, Urooj was injured.

The injured child was shifted to the DHQ Hospital, where her condition is stated to be critical. The Khall police registered a case and started further investigations.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2023