Landslide leaves five dead in Skardu

• Deceased hailed from Shengus village: police.
• Rescue teams dispatched to the incident site.
• Vehicle falls into ravine in Astore injuring six.
  

SKARDU: At least five people have been killed after a vehicle carrying multiple passengers got caught in a landslide in Skardu, the police said on Sunday.

The passengers were buried due to the landslide and rescue teams recovered four bodies from the site of incident, said Deputy Commissioner Arif Ahmed. 

He said that the search is continued to recover other bodies, adding that excavator and additional rescue personnel have been sent to remove debris under which the passenger vehicle was buried. 

The deceased hailed from Shengus village, the police added.

In another incident, three people were killed after a jeep velling from Sharda to Kel plunged into a ditch in Azad Jammu and Kashmir's (AJK) Neelum Valley.

Meanwhile, seven others were also injured — of which two are in critical condition — and have been shifted to the hospital, Dr Muhammad Ashraf Khan said.

Witnesses say that the accident — involving people belonging to the same family — occurred due to snow on the road.

Meanwhile, in a separate accident, a vehicle fell into a ravine in Astore leaving five passengers injured and one dead. 

The wounded, as per the police, have been shifted to hospital. As many as eight people were travelling in vehicle and four among them who had minor injuries were discharged.   

The incidents come in the wake of weather changes that have gripped the northern areas with intermittent snowfall at Babusar Top, Nanga Parbat and other areas.

Landslides and accidents are not uncommon in these treacherous terrains.

Last month, at least 14 people were killed after a bus carrying wedding guests plunged off a bridge into the Indus River in Gilgit Baltistan.

Police had said that the ill-fated bus was part of a wedding procession heading towards Punjab’s Chakwal district when it fell into the river from Telchi bridge in the limits of Diamer district.

"Apparently, the accident was the result of the driver’s negligence," Diamer's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sher Khan said.

The overspeeding bus, after hitting the safety railing of the bridge, plunged into the river, the police officer had added.