MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 28: A public transport vehicle was swept away by a raging torrent in the southern Sudhnoti district of Azad Kashmir on Tuesday, leaving five passengers dead and around eight injured.

At least seven others were still missing and efforts were continuing till the filing of this report to recover them from the swollen water channel, police said.

The ill-fated coaster with around 20 to 21 people on board was travelling between Jhanda Bagla and Bhaitran villages. As it passed through a Nullah Sehar Hanjal (water channel), it was swept away by flash flood. The vehicle fell into 10 feet deep ditch and overturned.

Police and locals launched rescue operation and recovered five bodies from the water whereas eight other passengers were retrieved alive but with multiple wounds. Two of them were shifted to Islamabad on account of their critical condition.

Relying on the statement of wounded passengers, police were of the view that at least seven passengers were still missing.

Deputy Commissioner Adnan Khurshid told Dawn that the rescue operation was in progress to recover the missing passengers. On Monday, five persons were killed in a road accident in the same district.