Eight die as chairlift falls in Indus River in Gilgit

Gilgit: Eight people including a father and son were killed when the rope of a chairlift over the Indus River broke near Chillas, capital city of district Diamer, on Sunday morning.

The iron rope of the lift, joining Gas Bala village and Karakorum highway, broke due to overloading and all the passengers fell in the river. The incident occurred at around 8.00am. No body had been recovered till last information despite hectic searching for hours.

The victims are Rashid s/o Mehboob, Qari Tehseel s/o Shah Raees, Ataullah s/o Muhammad Khan, Ehtisham s/o Soban Shah, Bedullah s/o Abdul Rehman, Farhatullah s/o Rahmat Ali, Rabnawaz s/o Bahadur Khan and son of Bedullah. They all were residents of Gas Bala village.

It is pertinent to mention here that Gas Bala Bridge on Indus River was washed away by devastating flood two years ago and Yousuf Raza Gilani, the then prime minter, had promised during his visit of the area that it would be reconstructed immediately but the promise is yet to be fulfilled and the people of the area are compelled to use lift-chair for going across the river. (PPI)