GILGIT, July 17: Eight people died while 11 others sustained wounds when the jeep they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep ravine in Astore, administration and police officials said.

“The ill-fated jeep was overloaded as more than 29 people were onboard when the vehicle met accident in Theing village,” Astore district’s deputy commissioner Shah Baz told this correspondent. The jeep was heading from the village to Astore city.

The deputy commissioner said as the village was a remote one they got to know of the accident late in the day though the mishap had occurred at about 8am. The victims were identified as Nek Alam, Javed, Pervez, Jamshed, Sheikh Rehmat, Saqib, belonging to Astore, while Ilyas and Maqbool were from Jaglote.

Mr Shah Baz stated that as soon as they got information several parties of rescue workers were dispatched assisted by local volunteers who retrieved bodies and the injured and shifted them to hospital. Four critically injured were instantly shifted to DHQ Hospital Gilgit in army ambulances, he added.

The district magistrate said a state of emergency had been imposed in the district headquarters hospital while people visited the hospital and donated blood for the victims.

The magistrate said the driver lost control over the steering as it was overloaded plunging the vehicle into the ravine. Bodies of deceased were handed over to legal heirs amid gloomy scenes.

The magistrate said a case had been registered and further investigations got underway, adding the driver of the vehicle was unconscious and was not able to record his statement.—Correspondent