GUJAR KHAN: Rescue services recovered another from the river Jhelum near the Garari Bridge in Rawalpindi on Friday after a hi-ace van plunged into the river a day earlier, taking the death toll to six.

District Emergency Officer 1122 Rawalpindi Sighbatullah, however, expressed fear that the death toll may rise to nine as three occupants of the vehicle were still missing after two days of search efforts.

On Thursday, a van carrying around 12 passengers was coming from Hajera in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) when it plunged into the river while navigating a turn near Garari Bridge in the Kahuta area of Rawalpindi.

Five bodies were recovered in yesterday’s operation, which had to be halted later in the day due to low light conditions.

A day earlier, low-light conditions did not allow divers to search for the missing. Rescue officials had expressed fear that the river’s current may have carried away the missing passengers.

On August 24 last year, a fatal accident at the same Garari bridge claimed 24 lives after a bus plunged into the river, while in another accident over 14 passengers were seriously injured in a bus accident in the area on the Kahuta-Hajera AJK road in October 2024.

Vehicle fitness regime being enforced: RTA

Rawalpindi Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Syed Abbas Shirazi told Dawn that, as per records, the fitness certificate of the vehicle was valid up to February 4, 2026, and that the route permit was valid until April 28, 2026.

“The RTA is conducting enforcement operations on a daily basis against unfit vehicles and vehicles plying without valid fitness certificates,” he added.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2025