MUZAFFARABAD: Four members of a family lost their lives while as many others were injured in an accident when their vehicle plunged into a ravine in Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, an official said.

Assistant Commissioner Naykal Sardar Umar Farooq, told Dawn that the family, residents of Mohra Dharoti Village were on their way to Kotli.“However, hardly after covering a distance of 25 kms, the driver lost control of the vehicle near Topiyan and fell hundreds of feet down into a ravine,” he said.

“The road is quite wide at the spot, from where the vehicle fell down, which suggests that the driver, reportedly unfamiliar with the area, might have dosed off,” he added.

Ibrar Alam, a Nakyal-based journalist, said that there were too many pot-holes on the hilly road, which drivers would try to avoid and in doing so, they would sometimes get into accidents.

According to Mr Farooq, four persons died on the spot and as many were injured after the accident that left the vehicle “completely smashed.”

The deceased were identified as 100-year-old Mohammad Aziz, his granddaughter Sidra, 25, Shazia, 27 and her 18-month-old daughter Noshal.

Mr Aziz’s grandsons Shahzad, 31, and Mohammad Israr, 28 along with two of their relatives Mohammad Zubair, 30 and his wife Arooba, 23 were injured.

Mohammad Zubair was driving the vehicle, Mr Farooq said, adding the injured persons were shifted to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Kotli. One of the injured persons was shifted to Rawalpindi due to her critical condition.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2020