MUZAFFARABAD: Four members of a wedding party lost their lives when their car, carrying the groom, plunged into the icy Neelum River in the upper Neelum Valley on Tuesday, officials said.

The wedding party had departed from Narr Banna village in Mansehra district at 3am in three vehicles, heading to Changaan village, some 110 kilometres from Muzaffarabad.

The tragedy occurred at around 7:30am near Nagdar Kinari, approximately 20 kilometres from their destination.

Deputy Commissioner Nadeem Ahmed Janjua told Dawn that despite subzero temperatures, frost-covered ground, and fog in the upper valley, the accident site was a relatively wide stretch of road, making such an incident unexpected.

“It appears that the driver, unfamiliar with the area and fatigued from the long journey, may have dozed off. Instead of applying the brakes, he pressed the accelerator, causing the car to lose control and crash through the roadside parapet,” he said.

The vehicle fell off the road and skidded into the river within moments.

Akhtar Ayoub, the District Disaster Management Officer in Neelum Valley, told Dawn that three employees of his office, en route to Athmuqam, reached the accident site within 20 minutes and immediately began rescue operations.

Local residents also joined the effort, and within the next half an hour, all five occupants of the partially submerged car were retrieved and brought to the riverbank.

Four of the passengers - Sabir, 35 (driver); Afzaal Tanoli, 22; Shiraz Zaman, 30; and Mohammad Ajmal, 30 - had succumbed to extreme cold while the groom, identified as Naqash Aurangzeb, survived with minor injuries.

The bodies were taken to Athmuqam for procedural formalities before being handed over to their families, Mr Ayoub said.

Following the tragedy, the wedding was cancelled. Expressing sorrow over the loss of lives, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq and Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar reiterated their call for travellers to exercise extreme caution while driving through high-altitude areas.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2024