MANSEHRA: An engineer and two steel fixers working on the Dasu hydropower project were killed and 11 labourers were injured when a van they were aboard plunged into a ravine in Upper Kohistan in the early hours on Wednesday, a rescue official said.

“Three people were killed, and 11 others sustained critical injuries in the accident. They were shifted to a nearby health facility,” Abdul Rehman, an official of Rescue 1122, told reporters.

He said the vehicle carrying 14 labourers and other staff members of the Dasu hydropower project was on way back to the Icharnullah residential camp after the night shift when the driver lost control over the steering.

“As per the initial reports, the vehicle developed a technical fault and went out of the driver’s control,” Mr Rehman said.

He said that the injured were shifted to the Dasu Civil Hospital, where doctors pronounced engineer Mohammad Arsalan of Nowshera, and steel fixers Mohammad Zaid Dar and Ghufranullah of Allai, Battagram, dead.

The injured were identified as Mohammad Ahsan, Ghulam Sher, Ayaz Khan, Naz Mohammad, Amir Khan, Waleed Khan, Assadullah, Rafiullah, Taus Khan, Mohammad Azmat and Mumtaz Khan. They were referred to Ayub Medical Complex Hospital, Abbottabad, after emergency treatment at the civil hospital.

An official of the dam confirmed to this scribe that none of the Chinese nationals working on the dam died or got injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, a boy, Mohammad Javed, 16, was killed when roof of a house collapsed in Baffa Kalaray area.

A Rescue 1122 team shifted him to the Civil Hospital Baffa, where doctors pronounced him dead.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024