MANSEHRA: Three people, including two members of Sikh minority community, were killed and 10 others sustained critical injuries when a loaded lorry collided with a pickup vehicle in the Kawai area of Kaghan Valley on Sunday.

A loaded truck rammed into a van on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road, killing three persons, including two members of a Sikh family, visiting the Kaghan Valley, and injuring 10 others.

“The tragic incident occurred when the driver of the truck lost control over the vehicle on a steep stretch of the road, causing it to ram into a van,” Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer Ibrar Ali told reporters.

Nine members of the Sikh family from Gujranwala district in Punjab were returning home after a recreational trip to Kaghan Valley when the loaded truck struck their vehicle in the Kawai area, leaving all of them and four residents seriously injured.

Rescue 1122 teams shifted the injured to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Balakot, where doctors pronounced Tajender Singh, Jisraz Singh and Aftab Hussain, a resident, dead.

The remaining injured were referred to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital in Mansehra for further treatment.

According to doctors, the condition of the injured Sikh community members, including Sarjeet Singh, Bryal

Singh, Siren Singh, Jangneet Singh, Sugdas Singh, Girat Singh and

Fateh Singh, as well as three residents of Balakot, Mohammad Yasir, Abdul Basit and Mohammad Noman, was critical.

The district emergency officer said that the bodies were dispatched to their respective hometowns after completion of medico-legal formalities.

According to witnesses, the truck driver fled the scene after the accident.

The police have registered an FIR and launched an investigation.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2026