GILGIT: Seven labourers working at the Diamer Bhasha Dam site were killed and another was seriously injured when their vehicle fell into a ravine near the Karakoram Highway in Diamer on Monday morning, according to local police.

The labourers were travelling to the construction site on a Mazda vehicle when it lost control and fell into the ravine near the Thor area of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district.

Five workers died on the spot, while two of the three injured later succumbed to their injuries, the police said.

As soon as the accident was reported, GB Tourist Police, local police and GB Scouts started a joint rescue operation and retrieved the bodies and injured and shifted them to a government hospital in Chilas.

The condition of the one injured person was also said to be critical.

The deceased have been identified as Yousuf, Ehsanullah, Muhibullah, Mujeebullah, and Sajjad, who was an employee of the army’s Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). Meanwhile, the injured has been identified as Ibadullah.

Five of them belong to Diamer, while two hail from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On the orders of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Gulbar Khan, the district administration imposed an emergency at the Chilas Hospital. The injured were given medical aid, and their bodies were sent to their native villages in government ambulances.

CM Khan has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident and offered his condolences to the bereaved families.

Thousands of labourers, mostly locals, are working at the site of the Diamer Bhasha Dam, scheduled for completion in 2028. It will have an electricity generation capacity of 4,500 MW clean and store 8.1 MAF water.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024