Muzaffarabad, Apr 25: Twelve people lost their lives and around 19 others suffered injuries in two road accidents towards the north of Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, police and witnesses said.
A Muzaffarabad bound superannuated jeep, coming from Jheeng village on the right side of River Neelum, veered off the steep and narrow hilly road, reportedly after developing some technical fault, and fell hundreds of feet down.
As a result, 8 persons died on the spot and 16 others were wounded. Of them, two succumbed to their wounds on way to the hospital whereas the rest were hospitalised.
Witnesses said the jeep had been altered to accommodate passengers beyond its actual loading capacity, something not uncommon in the rural areas of Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
In another accident, a coaster hit the roadside mountain along a potholed portion of main Neelum valley road near Chalpani village reportedly after the driver could not reduce its speed. As a result, two passengers were killed and 5 others sustained wounds.
PAK minister for transport Tahir Khokhar visited both accident sites and expressed sympathies with the victims and their relatives.
In Chalpani, people complained to him that the bumpy portion had caused many accidents in the past as well but it was not being carpeted. Besides, they lamented, stoppage of construction work of a nearby bridge on a water channel was also threatening the lives of passengers.
It may be recalled that in July last year, three passengers had died and 17 wounded in a similar road accident on the same patch.
In Jheeng area, people grumbled about government’s alleged oversight to the threats to the lives of passengers posed by the outmoded vehicles and dilapidated roads.
The minister, who has already launched a campaign to take the outmoded vehicles off-road, told the complainants that being alive to the problem he was determined to improve the public transport system in PAK together with the support of general public.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST