Neelam River accident claims lives of 13 tourists

NEELAM VALLEY: (Azadi Times) A vehicle full of tourists coming from Taubat plunged into the Neelum River from Phulaoi. Vehicle number QA636 hot top jeep met with an accident in the dark of night due to a road fault.

There were 13 people on board including 11 tourists. 6 people are missing, 5 injured and 1 dead body has been removed. The district administration, Pakistan Army, rescue 1122 and many civil societies have reached the spot. Due to the lack of telephone service, the rescue operation was delayed.

Deputy Commissioner Neelam Valley Sardar Tahir Mehmood, SP Maqsood Abbasi, Assistant Commissioner Musharraf Mir, Tehsildar Mushtaq Qureshi, Naib Tehsildar Kiel Sakhi Zaman Mughal, in-charge 1122 Khawaja Rafiq reached the spot. With the help of local people, the injured have been shifted to THQ Hospital.

11 tourists belong to Lahore while 2 people are locals. According to the details, 14 people including 12 tourists were on board the hot top jeep which got stuck in the Neelum river at the place of Phalawi coming from Taubat.

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Among the injured are Hussain son of Shiraz Ahmad, Mohammad Zameer Sheikh son of Sheikh Safdar, Moin Ahmed son of Javed Iqbal injured, Ibrahim son of Abdul Majeed driver Shandas Neelam, Rafiq son of Nadeem conductor Shandas Neelam injured, while among the missing, Umeer son of Safdar Sheikh, Shahnawaz son of Sheikh Maqsood, Azir son of Ashraf, Bilal son of Muhammad Maqbool, Ghulam Meeran son of Javed, Iqbal, Zeeshan, Waleed, Rafiq, Rahim are residents of Lahore.

Deputy Commissioner Sardar Tahir Mehmood is supervising the relief activities. Relief activities are facing difficulties due to flooding in the Neelam River.