Gilgit - Baltistan

Mourning grips Attaabad (Gharaiyet) after deadly jeep accident

Funeral ceremony of 3 family members of Hayat Khan

Hunza, May 29: Twelve people including three children and five women were killed when an overcrowded jeep plummeted off the narrow mountain downhill 75 to 100 feet in Attabad village, about 25 km north of Aliabad, Hunza. About 6 people, hanging outside the jeep, jumped and saved their lives.

According to sources, three members of two families, each, and two members of two other families, each, lost their lives in the accident. Almost all of the people were close relatives. The names of the deceased persons are Hayat Khan, Khushan, Husnain Ali Ghulam, Bibi Khurshid, daughter of Bibi Khurshid, Bibi Shahri, Bibi Fiat, Ali Madad, Mehboob Ali, Salika and Wajahat (driver). Hadi Hussain (member union council), Shahbaz, Ajaz Karim, Nizam uddin, Piyar Ali and Walayat saved their lives by jumping off the jeep.

The accident is said to have occurred due to brake failure. The accident took place around 8 am when the jeep, full of local passengers, left for Aliabad, Hunza. The small mountain village is located at around 8500 feet above the sea level, with a population of seven hundred people. The village is prone to natural disaster due to large cracks in the mountains above it and, also, in the land, an extension of the mountain, making the village . The village is located at a distance of about 5 km above the KKH and can be accessed only through high power four wheel vehicles.

Hundreds of volunteers, scouts and FOCUS activists from the surrounding villages participated in the rescue efforts. Ikrammulah Baig, Chairman Aga Khan Social Welfare Board, Hunza, Fida Karim, Chairman, Aga Khan Economic Planning Board, Shama Lal, President Ismaili Local Council Hunza and members of Ismaili Regional Council Hunza were present to monitor the post accident situations. AKSWB has also made relevant arrangemnts for burial of the dead bodies. Due to lack of telephone facilities and being away from KKH, people faced problems to reach the village. Later on, Qamar, District Commissioner Gilgit, Khawaja Khan, President Ismaili Regional Council Hunza, Ghulam Ali, Secretary Ismaili Regional Council Hunza and other Jamati leadership visited the deceased families.

The villagers told Pamir Times that they have contacted the political representatives many a times for the widening and proper maintenance of the road but despite of repeated reminders they did not pay any heat and consequently this un-fateful accident occurred which claimed twelve precious lives.

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27 Comments

  1. May Mowla bless the souls of those who died in this accident, with eternal peace and early recovery who sufferd injuries

    My heartiest condolances to the families who lost their loved ones

  2. Dear Readers of PT,
    After reading the news about the accident my nerves got paralysed as a sudden shock insinuated my mind.
    The mountanous places having impperviabilities put precious lives into imperiled situations.
    I am really concerned about the death of so many people belonging to the same village.It is a huge loss and irrepairable.
    My sympathy is with the mourning families and I pray to Mawla that he might place the souls in eternal peace(Ameen).
    Aslam Ghalib,Lahore

  3. may Mawla bless the souls of those who died today at Ghareyet hunza with eternal peace.

  4. It’s very very grieving indeed. No words to express.

    May all the souls rest in eternal peace..! (Amen)

  5. It is a very sad news indeed. So many people died in such a horrible accident. I pray for the souls of all those who died. May God rest their souls in eternal peace.

  6. Moulla marhoomeen ko jannath naseeb kare, ahliyan Ghareyat ko sabar or arbab-e-ekhtiyar ko sooch or aqal atta farmaye

    R.Karim
    Texas

  7. i am very sad to know that many people lost thier lives in the accident belonging to one family a big loss for ther sufferd family may mowla bless thier soul,s and rest thier soul,s in eternal peace and make quick recovery of the sufferd family….

    Didar Karim Bari
    islamabad

  8. NOTHING we could do to the departed souls except prayers. It is a very sad news indeed. May Allah, the Almighty, bless the souls with eternal peace and bless the bereaved families with great patience.

    NOW, what we can do to the rest of the popopulation? This is important. The respective district councillor and the NALA member (also the CE of NALA) come into sense then what could be done for such marginalised villages that are already on the naturallly risky areas then multiplied by the human negligence in denying their basic human rights and fundamental amenities. How to compansate these families and the village to minimise the life risks?

    Immediate measures:

    a) The respective vehicles must not over load their vehilcles by passengers;
    b) If there is dearth of vehicles in the village.
    c) Provide the people promptly with a better/wide road infrastrucure;
    d) Provide telephone facilities;
    e) Emergency health facilities (if not available).

    For the telephonic facilities, I would also request the mobile companies to kindly take initiatives in this regard by installing their poles and facilities. From Dong Das to lower Shiskhkat, the native peoples of the area are not linked with telephone facility.

    Provision of this facility, will benefit not only these missed/marginalised community in the middle, but would also facilitate the passengers travelling on the KKH. Thus, the respective mobile company(ies) would also get benefits.

  9. When i heard about this incident i really shocked because i have many of my friend from Sarat Valley.its a great loss for the families and also it is loss of our Community.I am really concerned about the death of so many people belonging to the same village.It is a huge loss and irrepairable.i request the governement and non governement social organization to rehabilitate the road infrastructure so like these heavy loss of our communty lives could not happen again .I request all the people of Hunza to fully cooperate financially to rehabilitate the condition of the road.
    My sympathy along with my aliabad community is with the mourning families .may allah that he might place the souls in eternal peace(Ameen).

  10. a very tragic accident. may God rest all the parted souls in eternal peace.
    moreover, the poor condition of physical infrastructure especially link roads to most of the villages in the area make people porn to such accidents. unless there is a real concern among the govt. (if there is any) and the development NGOs to improve the situation on ground rather than on papers, such events will be difficult to forestall.

  11. it is very very sad news indeed.many people deid in that unblievable and unbearable accident.may God rest their souls in
    eternal peace.

  12. Huge lose….. Only can do is prayers for the departed souls…. Their families will really affect but keep pateint and trust GOD….

  13. Indeed very horrible news we got last day. May God rest all the souls in His eternal piece. We do hope from the concerned authorities that they will take considerable interest to find out the route cause behind such tragic accident and take necessary steps for proper road and other basic facilities for the poor villagers of the area so that such kind of shocking news could be minimised.

  14. It’s a very sad news for all of us.May Maula grant the souls of the Rohaniz with eternal peace & grant their families with courage & patience.AMIN

    Mrs.Khan
    Wales

  15. Our deep sympathy for the bereaved family and pray for the departure souls that may Allah rests their souls in eternal peace.
    Watching the TV news regarding this shocking news indeed paralyzed us for a moment. This is a tragic accident where many lives were lost because of overloading on limited seated vehicle on a difficult and dangerous road. Transporters and drivers must not allow many people to be on board on a small jeep (even on a highway as well) to avoid such type of accident. The local administration should take immediate measure that why it occurred and take necessary action to sole the root cause.

    Sajjad and Samina
    Riyadh-KSA

  16. YAM

    i felt stabbed when I heared about this incident. The unfortunate family memebers who lost their lives in this tragic accident are relatives of almost all inhibitants of surrounding villages. I pray Moula bestow his undue REHMAT upon the souls of deceased and give patience and forbearance to the family memebers and our beloved Jamat of HUNZA.

  17. I am shocked to learn about the incident and feel really sad that I am unable to visit the grieved families (most of them are my relatives), to offer condolence. Sitting in Kabul, Afghanistan all I can do is to pray that May Allah Almighty put the departed souls in eternal peace and give courage and strength to the grieved families to bear the loss. AMEEN
    Muhammad Gul
    Kabul

  18. Extremely shocking and heartbreaking incident which caused lose of many precious lives. My deep sympathy for the bereaved family and pray for the departed souls that “may their souls rest in eternal piece” and may God give us all the strength to bear this agonizing pain.

    Nauroze
    Kabul, Afghanistan

  19. It is a grieving moment, when I heard about the incident it was terribly a shocking moment for me, many of my relatives and friend belong to this remote village of Hunza. I share the grief and sorrow with the families who have lost their loved ones in this unfortunate accident in particular and with the inhabitants of the village in general.

    I do know very well the troubles and vicissitude of the Attabad, as being a member of a nearby village Salmanabad. How said it is to think that these powerless people don’t know on who’s hands they should look for the blood of these innocent people who have lost their precious lives. Is it God or a mere luck that should be blamed for the death of these women, children and men or we should look elsewhere?

    When we say a narrow road, we immediately think of a narrow but still a comfortable path where vehicles could run easily. However, this is not the case with the ‘Jeep Track’ of Attabad, which is highly narrow and rugged, where 4 x 4 jeep crawls to reach the bottom of village and lost its breath when it is trying to move on it.

    It has been reported in the daily Dawn, that people of the area had demanded several times for the expansion of the road with the Govt. But the powers in the Government of Pakistan and NAs are enjoying their stench filled comfortable lives in the blood smelly offices without any care for the poor, powerless and voiceless villagers. Most part of the blame goes to those filthy powerful government representatives and administration who have neglected the repeated demands for the expansion of the road. This was not the very first incident on this unfortunate ‘Jeep Track’ rather in the past it has happened several times and the recent one is the most horrible of those all. Now it is time to push for the expansion of the road where these poor villagers could move to meet their daily livelihood without fear, otherwise the vulture will always lurk over this ‘Jeep Track’.
    Abbas Ali
    London

  20. ya ali madad
    please pass our condolences to the families of the departed souls
    MAY ALLAH REST THEIR SOULS IN ETERNAL PEACE
    aAMEEN
    Mehbs DAR ES SALAAM/ TANZANIA

  21. It was really a great tragedy for the people of Attaabad in particular and to the people of Hunza in general. We are equally gloomy on the unfortunate accident. May Moula give eternal peace to the departed souls and give courage to their family members to face lose.

  22. May Allah give the marhoomeens eternal peace.(Ameen).
    I would like to mention an important piont here about the effectees of the accident who are effected directly and indirectly. we all know that we are not very much financialy sound,we need help during crises. An unordinary expense or loss of money disturbs the whole plannings and budget of a house or family. Am talking about those families who have lost their earning sources in this accident. I would request the Imamati institutions to help and support the effectees both moraly and financialy. It will better if we can contribute some thing from this platform.
    what do you people suggest.
    AMJAD ALI (AAJ TV)

  23. How sad, how will the children feel without their parents.

    How sad it is that I shall no longer feel your touch.
    No longer will I feel the warmth of your hugs.

    Your kisses placed gently upon my cheek.
    Your hands braiding my long curly hair.

    Oh, for so many years I have wept.
    If only once I could call you and hear your reply.

    You are my reminder that life should never be taken for granted.
    You are my reminder that above all else life should be cherished.

    As I pressed my lips upon the red rouged cheek; I knew that it was not you.
    Your spirit was no longer in your body.

    Your body was never cold to my touch.
    Your eyes were always open when I called you.

    Your love will always be eternal.
    For, until I depart, I will always remember my dear mommy.

    © By Michelle Torruella

  24. “QALAH INALILAHI WA INA ELAHI RAJIOON.”
    Yaalimadad,
    it was really a great loss of sevral families of Garayat village of Hunza.i am deeply concern with the all families, i will pray that may MHI give the eternal peace to the depated souls and give his Ruhani strength to bear the loss of there beloveds. AMEEN.

    In this movement some points are rouming in my mind, which i would like to share cos this is only plate forum where we can address all those public issues.
    Since last couples of years in this remoute village , were facing different problems, in shape of land sliding, lack of educational and health facilities, lack of drinking water more then that the major problem of ‘ROAD’.
    All of our PT readers will agree how do they survive in winter season, with these hardles. we are saying the jeep was over loded….the people of the village have no choice, only a jeep is source of transport, cos of narrow and bad condition of jeep able road. why our leaders are not fullfilling there commitments? why still the Jeep able road could not be expended so far? why the budget of Hunza region is not spending in right manner?now still the political leaders are quite silent, but when the election comes each and every leader will say, once i elected i will expend this road in periority basis..i am witness of this commitment, when past leaders were told in public gathering.
    i request for our political leaders, please for God Sack make sure to extend this road and save this remoute village from more incidents. God gives the right path to our leaders…

    Regards,
    Rahmat Karim
    ICD, Dubai UAE.

  25. It’s indeed a dreadful incident, May God rest all the souls in His eternal piece.the only thing one can do is to pray for thr departed souls, but the concerned authorites & epresentives atleast now should open their eyes, to take necessary steps that such incident could be prevented in future.

    Jvd Ali khan
    Lahore

  26. i m very sad to listen about the tragedy. May Allah rest all the souls in his eternal peace and give courage to all their families to bear an irreparable loss . really i m very sad .

  27. this is a very sad mater for all the people of hunza gojal. now almost the roads of gilgit are not that much fair.it is only upon the driver to take care of the people the must care.because of their less atention people lose their beautifull life live and death is God gifted but human being can only take care of over self.

    may their soul live in peace

    najeeb ullah
    passvic
    F.C.College lahore

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