A tragic accident occurred on Thursday night in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, where a passenger van filled with travelers veered off the road and plunged into a river. The vehicle was journeying from Gilgit toward Hundur village located in the upper Yasin valley when it met with the disaster near Noh Bridge. At least 11 individuals lost their lives in the mishap, while three other passengers sustained injuries and required urgent medical attention. Local emergency responders immediately mobilized to pull survivors and victims out of the water body.
Rescue Operations and Hospitalization
Upon receiving information about the disaster, rescue teams rushed to the site to initiate recovery operations. Initial reports from emergency officials indicated five fatalities and multiple injuries, but as rescue workers recovered more bodies from the river, the death toll climbed to 11. The three injured passengers were promptly transferred to a hospital in Gahkuch, which serves as the headquarters of the Ghizer district, for medical treatment. Authorities noted that because the exact manifest of passengers aboard the van remains unconfirmed, search operations continue to locate anyone else who might still be missing in the water.
Darkness Hinders Search Efforts
The nighttime darkness posed a significant challenge for the rescue teams trying to comb the river for missing persons following the crash. Officials deployed a specialized water rescue team from Gilgit to assist with the ongoing search operations in the difficult terrain. The lack of a definitive passenger list has forced rescue personnel to thoroughly scan the river banks and surrounding areas to ensure no victims are left behind.
History of Fatal Accidents in Mountainous Terrain
This incident in Gilgit-Baltistan follows a series of severe road accidents across the region's treacherous mountain routes. On November 7, a passenger bus traveling from Hunza to Rawalpindi collided with a trailer near the Havelian Interchange on the Hazara Motorway, claiming eight lives and injuring 30 people, a case that was subsequently investigated by the National Highway and Motorway Police. Mountain travel has a grim history, marked by a 2018 incident where a passenger van plunged into a deep ravine near Hopper valley, killing seven people. Furthermore, in May 2024, a bus traveling from Rawalpindi to Gilgit-Baltistan veered off a mountain road into a ravine in the Diamer district, resulting in at least 20 deaths and 21 injuries.
