MUGHAL ROAD ACCIDENT|Victim families recount the day that changed their lives forever

It was Tuesday. The students of Kashish Institute Surankote were planning a daylong excursion to refresh. It was together decided to visit Pir Ki Gali, a famous tourist destination on Mughal Road.

On Thursday morning, 32 persons including students and staffof the institute being run under Pardhan Mantri Koushal Vikas Yojna, boardedtwo tempo travellers for Pir Ki Gali. But destiny has some different in storefor them.

   

At about 12:25 PM, when both the vehicles were on waytowards Hirpora Shopian with students enjoying roadside scenic beauty, one ofthe vehicles (a tempo traveller) with seventeen passengers on board skidded offthe road and fell 800 meters deep into a gorge.

With no mobile phone connectivity in the area,  the passersby who witnessed the fall, rescuethe victims, while some among them rushed a car to Shopian to inform theauthorities.

Eleven persons lost their lives in the accident. Sevenothers who were injured including the driver, were rescued by the locals withhelp of some government officials and rushed them to Shopian hospital.

After one and a half hours of the accident, the police andthe locals removed the bodies from the gorge.

Meanwhile, all the eleven bodies were brought to SurankoteThursday at 9 PM where they were handed over to their legal heirs fromSurankote sub district hospital.

Families recount horror

Family members of the victims recounting the horror saidthat June 27 changed their lives forever.

Abdul Rashid, whose one niece Shazia Tabassum was killed inthe accident and another niece Sonia Koser was injured, told Greater Kashmirthat his brother Mohammad Rafiq has lost everything as one of his daughtersdied while another is battling for life in hospital.

Shahzad Manhas, whose cousin Mehr-un-Nissa (18) daughter ofMohammad Rashid resident of Potha Surankote was killed in the accident said:”The overloaded vehicle passed through Behram Gala police point, Bufliyazpolice naka and Poshana joint check post and no one intercepted it whichclearly shows poor implementation of road safety norms,” Manhas said.

Will government assurances bring back their sister, heasked.

Meanwhile, Moulana Sayeed, whose daughter Yasmeen Akhter wasalso a part of the trip but was travelling in another vehicle, said the lack ofmobile connectivity en route Mughal Road is the root cause that makes travelalong the this stretch “risky”.

“When I came to know that a vehicle of the institutehad plunged into deep gorge it send shivers down my spine as my daughter hadalso gone to picnic,” said Moulana Sayeed.

“It was only after more than two hours that someoneinformed me that my daughter was safe,” he said.

3 girls exchanged vehicles minutes before accident

Three girls who were travelling in the ill-fated vehicle,minutes before the accident exchanged their seats with their mates in othervehicle.

Ghulam Mustafa Khan, a teacher and trainer in the institute,who was travelling in the vehicle that did not meet with the accident, saidthat between Pir Ki Gali and Lal Ghulam, some girls in both the vehiclescomplained of uneasiness after which they alighted from the vehicles to takesome rest.

“Later, when these girls boarded the respectivevehicles, three girls who were earlier travelling in the ill-fated vehicle,exchanged their seats with three other girls of other vehicle,” said Khan.

 2 cousins who lost their lives

Rabia and Shabnam, two cousins and residents of GunthalManda area of Surankote died in the accident. Thousands of people turned up tooffer their last prayers.

Both Rabia (19) daughter of Hidayat Khan and Shabnam (18)daughter of Mukhtar Ahmed were enrolled in the institute.

Both were travelling in the ill-fated vehicle that met withthe accident.

Last rites of both the cousins were performed on Fridayafternoon in their native village Gunthal Manda.

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