MUZAFFARABAD: Fifteen people were killed and two others injured after a passenger jeep crashed into the banks of the Neelum River on Wednesday.

The Muzaffarabad-bound jeep was carrying 16 people, including the driver — all hailing from Lawat Bala village — when it met with the accident at about 10am near Devlian village.

After falling from the road, the vehicle first str­uck the bypass, then tumbled down to the riverbank, stopping just short of the river, Muzaffarabad Deputy Commissioner Nad­eem Ahmed Janjua said.

Mr Janjua asserted that the main road at the site of the accident was quite wide and could easily accommodate four vehicles passing simultaneously from opposite directions.

“An initial assessment suggests that the tie-rod of the passenger jeep broke, causing the driver to lose its control,” he said.

Before the vehicle came to a halt near the riverbank and was reduced to a twisted mass of metal, almost all passengers were thrown to the rocks, he added.

Rescuers found 14 people dead at the scene, and two young boys with critical injuries.

Those who died on the spot were identified as Mohammad Ashraf, 50; Ghulam Yasin, 60; Mohammad Farid Butt, 24; and his siblings Salma, 16; and Salim, 12; Resham Jan, 65; and her son Majid Khan, 27; Tariq Mir, 25 (driver); Zardana Bibi, 45; and her daughter Zeenat Bibi, 13; Saima Bibi, 40; Rafique Butt, 19; and his siblings Ishrat Bibi, 14; and Tanzeel, 12.

The survivors were identified as Ahsan Farooq, 10; and Nabeel, 7.

Ulfat Bibi, 45, a resident of Devlian area, who was cutting grass on a slope by the riverside, was also injured after being struck by the falling vehicle. All three were shifted to CMH Muzaffarabad, where Ahsan died of his wounds, an official said.

Meanwhile, AJK PM Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq was reported to have sought a report on the accident from divisional commissioner Sardar Adnan Khurshid within 24 hours. According to his press secretary, the premier convened a high-level meeting on pre-emptive measures to avoid road accidents.

Outdated vehicles

The frequency of road accidents in AJK is rising. These are often blamed on outdated vehicles, which are commonly altered by owners to maximise passenger capacity, in collusion with the motor vehicle authorities.

The jeep involved in Wednesday’s accident had been locally altered to increase its seating capacity, similar to another vehicle that plunged into the Neelum River on June 9 after the edge of the narrow road gave way under the vehicle’s weight. As a result, 17 people had drowned. Ironically, such vehicles are given ‘fitness certificates’ by the authorities concerned.

“The cause of accidents in suburban areas is the [fake] fitness certificates issued to altered vehicles. Who will act against those responsible for these accidents?” Muhammad Tariq Shaheen posted on X with an image of the fitness certificate of the vehicle involved in Wednesday’s accident.

A transporter told Dawn that alteration of vehicles was unlawful, but added that authorities overlooked it for reasons best known to them.

“This region desperately needs the implementation of a strict MOT test to ensure that all vehicles on the road, particularly public transport, are roadworthy and safe to operate,” he said.

A government official, who has served in the transport sector, told Dawn that like many other parts of the country, the remote rural areas of AJK were a safe haven for transporters who operated vehicles that had outlived their normal lifespan.

“The vehicles which should have been dumped in junkyards are plying on roads either by obtaining a so-called fitness certificate or even without bothering for this formality because they know nobody is going to check them,” he regretted.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024