MUZAFFARABAD, April 16: Twelve people, a woman and a young girl among them, were killed and four others were injured when a passenger wagon they were travelling in veered off the narrow Neelum Valley road and fell hundreds of feet down, landing on the bank of river Neelum.

The wagon, with 18 people on board, was going to Muzaffarabad from Panjkot village. The accident occurred near Devlian, some 40 kilometres northeast of here, SSP Dr Liaqat Ali told Dawn.

He said the injured were taken to a hospital in Muzaffarabad.

According to local people, heavy rain had made the road slippery and the brakes of the vehicle failed.

The deceased, most of whom belonged to Panjkot, were identified as Syed Sagheer Hussain, Syed Tasaddaq Hussain (police constable), Yasir Shah, Mir Hussain Shah, Nazir Hussain Shah, Ghulam Abbas, Sajjad Shah, Rukhsana, Ishfaq Shah, Zahir Hussain Shah, Yousaf and Morisha Bibi, and the injured as Rashid, Mohammad Yasin, Mashkoor (driver) and Qayas Deen.

In another road accident, a Rawalpindi-bound bus overturned near Garala village, causing injuries to seven passengers.