Chinese engineer among four killed in Neelum-Jhelum dam accident

Published December 24, 2014
Pakistani workers and Chinese engineers search the site after an accident at the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project intake site on December 24, 2014. – AFP
Pakistani workers and Chinese engineers search the site after an accident at the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project intake site on December 24, 2014. – AFP

MUZAFFARABAD: Four people including a Chinese engineer were killed Wednesday when a wall collapsed at a construction site for a major dam project in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, officials said.

The accident happened at the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project intake site 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered part of the disputed Himalayan territory.

“Four workers including a Chinese engineer were killed when a wall collapsed,” Sayed Asif Gardezi, a local administration official, told AFP.

He said a Chinese engineer and two other Pakistani workers were injured but they were out of danger. The incident was confirmed by local rescue officials.

China is one of Pakistan's main allies and there are thousands of Chinese engineers and other workers in Pakistan helping on infrastructure projects including nuclear power plants, dams and roads.

Last month Beijing promised Islamabad investment worth $42 billion over the coming years, much of it focused on the energy sector where Pakistan suffers chronic and economically damaging shortages. Industrial safety standards in Pakistan are poor and fatal accidents are common.

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...