In the Mansehra area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a passenger bus skidded off the Hazara Expressway Tuesday morning, killing at least four people and injuring three more, according to rescue officials.
Amir Khadam, a spokesman for Rescue 1122, told Dawn.com that the accident happened when the passenger bus was traveling from Gilgit to Rawalpindi.
According to him, the deceased and injured were taken to King Abdullah Hospital in Mansehra.
“The coaster slipped and skidded off the road due to the heavy rainfall that caused the incident,” he stated.
The dead and injured came from regions of Kohistan and Gilgit, Khadam added.
Following Monday night’s intense snowfall, the Mansehra district government also halted traffic on Naran-Babusar Road.
Ghulam Abbas, deputy director of the National Highway Authority, informed Dawn.com that the Karakoram Highway (KKH) has been restored for all traffic categories after being blocked at two locations in Kohistan.
Strong winds and heavy rain battered the northern part of KP and Gilgit Baltistan, and high-altitude snowfall made the temperature chilly.
In KP and the northern regions, road accidents are common and are made worse by inclement weather, rough terrain, badly maintained roads, overloaded cars, and lax traffic laws. These areas are particularly accident-prone due to the curving, narrow roads and the weariness of the drivers.
A day ago, a passenger bus headed for Rawalpindi plunged into a ravine in the Upper Kohistan region of KP, killing two passengers and injuring thirty-six more.
Three persons, including two army men, were killed and one injured in September when a bus on the KKH in the Upper Kohistan district’s Dasu area was struck by a landslide.
