Gojal: Death toll in road accident reaches 9, six critically injured
Our Correspondents (updated at 12:41)
Gulmit, August 22: The death toll in Gojal Valley’s worst road disaster has risen to 9 people. The accident took place Wednesday afternoon at the Karakuram Highway near an area located between Passu and Hussani, when a van carrying 18 passengers fell in a ravine.
The van was coming from Khyber Gojal, carrying people attending a marriage.
Three people, including Civil Supplies Director Aqil Shah, AKPBS employee Bakhtullah and 17 years old Shah Uddin passed away at the spot.
The injured and deceased were shifted to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Gulmit, by the local people, where Irfan Karim and Numberdar Nasiruddin breathed their last. The remaining injured were shifted to Aliabad due to absence of medical staff and equipment at the Gulmit hospital
While they were being shifted to Aliabad, 32 years old Shaukat Aziz breathed his last near the spillway of the dammed Hunza River. Later, two of the injured people, including Numberdar Nasir Iqbal and Dad Ali Shah, died at the Aliabad hospital.
The remaining injured people, including Muhammad Wasi, Deedar, Mujahid Qurban, Iman Hussain, Khadim and others were shifted to Gilgit for treatment. Mujahid Qurban passed away at a hospital in Gilgit, taking the death toll to 9 people.
It is pertinent to note that three of the injured people had been discharged after first-aid in Gulmit hospital.
Local people have protested against the government for failing to provide medical facilities to the Gojal Valley. The PC-IV of a hospital is pending for many years for unexplained reasons. The local people have said that many lives could have been saved if sufficient medical services could have been made available in a timely manner.
Some of the other injured people are believed to be in critical condition.
The death of 9 people in a single accident has shocked the entire region and people from across GB are sharing their sympathies and condolences with the bereaved families.
Names of the deceased:
1. Numberdar Nasiruddin (Kamaris, Gulmit)
2. Numberdar Nasir Iqbal (Odver, Gulmit)
3. Aqil Shah, Deputy Director Civil Supplies (Gulmit)
4. Bakht Ullah Baig, AKPBS (Gulmit)
5. Dad Ali Shah (Gulmit)
6. Irfan Karim (Ghulkin)
7. Mujahid Qurban (Ghulkin)
8. Shah ud din (Gulmit)
9. Shaukat (Gulmit)
—————————————
We are pleased to share that Muhammad Wasi, driver of the van, is alive and he is being shifted to Gilgit for treatment. In an earlier version his name had been included in the list of deceased people. We apologize for the mistake.
Very sad news ….May Almighty allah rest there soul in eternal peace..
Very sad news….May Allah rest their soul in eternal peace… Ameen
May Allah rest the departeds soul in eternal peace Ameen.
Its very shocking news for gojal . May Allah rest the souls of the dead’s in eternal peace and give health to the injured persons. (Aameen)
Extremely shocking news. The whole valley of Gojal is sad due to this tragic accident. May Allah rest their souls in eternal peace. Aameen.
A shocking news no doubt..Due to recent carpeting on road by Chinese, enormous traffic accidents happened due to negligence of drivers not having control over speed. Speed limit sign boards are not displayed or not being followed by drivers (due to lack of knowledge or driving expertise). Due care is required while traveling on killing KKH.. May Almighty rest departed souls in eternal peace and good health to the wounded passengers.
deep condolences with the families of the deceased may Allah give them courage to bear the heavy burden and may lord bestow the injured with health…
RIP
May Allah Almighty rest their souls in eternal peace. and also kindly updated the news with latest pics if have,……
Very sad news for the whole people of Hunza Gojal. we lost 9 precious lives.
Deep condolence with the deceased families. May Allah Almighty rest their soul in external peace.
Very sad news may Allah almighty rest departed soul in eternal peace. Its very sad because the people of Gojal need to change their attitudes towered gov many lives loss because lack of first aid. Its very unfortunate in whole gojal valley there is no single Doctor, there is no basic emergency department. Very sad…….very sad…..wake up people.
Very sad news….May Allah rest their soul in eternal peace… My deep condolences with deceased families.
God bless the deceased & the families of the deceased and heal the pain of loss. I hope the injured will be restored to good health quickly. This is such a tragic event & I’m sorry for the loss of the good people of Gojal. Peace be with them. There is so much sadness in Gilgit/Baltistan this Summer, my heart goes out to all.
Very sad news.
May Allah rest their soul in eternal peace (Ameen).
Very sad news for the entire Gojal. Deep condolence with the families of the deceased, May Allah almighty rest their soul in eternal peace. Aameen
Its very shocking news for Gojal . May Allah rest the souls of the dead’s in eternal peace and give health to the injured persons. (Aameen)
Such a big lose, a wake up call for all of us, whom to blame for this incident? Is it government who has failed to bring the basic facilities to the region, despite the happenings in recent past, resulting in many deaths.
Where are our institutions what is its role?? Our civil society?? And last but not the least our individual responsibility. What is the basic cause of this tragic incident?? Is it again Alcohol?? Over speeding?? Or faulty vehicle?? How can we prevent such incidents, how can we make our people realize to avoid alcohol at least at important occasions and during the drive. Safety and security is the primary responsibility of an individual.
For GOD Sack its time to think and analysis our weakness and the evil trends already engulf our society we need to learn from our mistakes. We should not blame other for our weaknesses; no one is going to help us unless we find solutions to our problems and the gaps we have.
May GOD rest the departed souls in internal peace and give the traumatized families strength to bear this irreparable lose of lives, lets pray for the injured for their survival and fast recovery.
Yaqub Ali, these are very important questions to ask and thank you for bringing these questions to the public’s attention. Sometimes, people are afraid to ask questions for fear of offending. The people from GB are really polite and gentle, but questioning the acts of responsibility, should never be considered aggressive or inappropriate. There must be laws to protect citizens who put their lives in danger, whether on the KKH, with a driver or the owner of the vehicle.
When people open up and say what they want, then things will change. It’s like the story of the children who had to cross the street to get to their school and there was no stop light to make the vehicles stop. After a number of children lost their lives, the parents protested, petitions were signed and the stop light was put in AND in addition there was a crossing guard who made sure the vehicles stopped. Laws to protect people are not bad. Vehicles should have yearly inspections and a certificate to prove them safe. Drinking and driving!… one should lose their license and not be able to drive. Unsafe roads, there should be people hired to keep them safe. Of course, these things all require money and taxes so the people must ask themselves how important the laws are for them and their families.
Wealthy people do not have to worry so much about these things as they can afford safe vehicles, hire personal drivers who don’t drink ,but they are also burdened with road conditions except that they can fly more easily to Islamabad.
This is why it is important to have a vote and GB deserves to have representation and their vote cast. Too much sadness in GB this Summer.
I’m sad for all who are suffering and pray their pain will be released. May god grant you all peace and goodwill. There are people around the world thinking about you and wanting good things for your beautiful communities.
May the souls of the deceased rest in eternal peace and Moula give courage to the family members of the bereaved families for the irreparable losses of lives.. Inna Lillahi wa innah ilaihi rajiuoon
This is the failair of our GOVT and AKDN institutions. I am working in in an German NGO we got funds for medical assistance in Gojal but we couldn’t work because of these organisations as they were reporting that we are already providing each and every facilities of health. We failed to bring this health project in Gojal it is because of AKDN and GOVT health policy in our region .
The tragic day in history of Gojal valley we have lost many precious lives including leaders and intellectual . The people of the region are in deep shock and at the same time anger because of lack of basic emergency Heath service for the entire region.To my information many deaths were preventable if basic resuscitation facilities could have been available in Gulmit Hospital .At the same time no facilities for patients transfer available in 21st century .I appeal to the people to fight for there right and in next election vote for a leader who is able to deliver.The current political representative is spineless and even unable to appoint a medical officer for the entire Gojal valley.
May Allah bestow the affected families tolerance. It is really shocking news and every individual is in deep sorrow. May Allah rest all the souls in eternal peace.
If the Govt and representatives of the area do not take seriousness in the hospital matter the situation can be much worst in winter. We all should try to build pressure on the government to equip the hospital so the region people has benefit in such critical times.
i pray for life to the injured persons and may Allah almighty rest the souls of deceased persons in eternal peace
VERY very shocking and hear breaking news the only thing we can do is to prey for them and share sorrow with their families. May their soul rest in peace and give their families relative and friends patience in this harsh sort of condition.
Tragic and sad. While we sympathize with the bereaved families and share their grief, it is extremely important to look in to the factors which were responsible for this disaster so that such incidents do not occur in the future.As far as the medical facilities are concerned, they are even far from satisfactory in the Gilgit hospital as well.We need to have a good mobile medical/surgical team well equipped with staff trained in basic resuscitation/surgical skills to reach the spot and start the life saving measures there and then.If precious hours are lost due to lack of provision of first aid,even a hospital nearby won’t make a difference!! This is a food for thought for the political leadership of the area in the sense that they need to take the medical professionals on board and establish medical facilities of at least national standard in all districts of GB if not of international standards!!!!
Professor Salman Ali
Professor of Paediatric Medicine
Councillor The College Of physicians and surgeons
Pakistan
very tragic, May Allah rest the souls deceased in eternal peace of heaven.
Its really heartrending to hear that. May the souls of the deceased rest in peace. I am specially sadden to hear about the demise of my dear junior at AKHSS Irfan Karim. My deepest sympathies are with his family and families of those who have lost their dear ones.
RIP
May Allah rest the deceased souls into eternal rest and give courage to the family member to bear such an irreversible loss. May a new life be bestowed upon the injured persons.
The situation has been very clearly analysed by different respondents such as the carelessness of the driver, alcohol, lack of medical facilities, hurdles in transportation etc. All of these factors have played their role and we all need to be aware and careful about these factors. Had there been a quick transportation facility along with medical facilities, many lives could have been saved. We all are very much dissatisfy with the govt’s performance but we can help improve it by raising our voices. They are accountable to the people.
Our deepest condolences to the families who lost their dear ones. We pray that their soles may rest in peace and for their families to bear this loss with courage. And the injured to get well and face their live with courage and new spirit…Amen
إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ May Allah rest their souls in eternal peace.
.
May Allah Alimighty rest all souls in eternel peace,and give their families courage to face such a horible accident
may the deceased soul rest in peace. Proper health facilities must be provided to the people of this remote area. however, we have no hope of any good from this corrupt Govt.
Very Sad incident………….
Our Sympathies are with the affected families……….May allah rests their soul in peace……
Indeed, very shocking news on the eve of Eid, May Allah the Almighty, bless the departed souls with eternal peace and give strength to bereaved families to bear this irreversible loss… Mr. Aqil Shah was a dear friend and kind human being indeed; his untimely death is a great loss to family, friends and region… My deep condolences to his family…
This is a criminal act on the part of Government to not provide sufficient medical facilities at Gulmit Hospital, knowing that Gojal is kind of land locked due to Attabad lake and not providing up to mark medical emergency facility deliberated act of government… Shame for our representatives that they could not fulfill their duties.. it is because of their lethargic attitude that we lost some precious lives… I hope this incident is eye opener for everybody and make proper arrangements at Gulmit to cope with such future emergencies…
Once again I pray to God for the souls of departed people…
Will the responsible ppl (Govt & AKDN) awake after this tragic incident?
very sad news.
may Allah rest all the departed souls in eternal peace…
Such a big loss,and shocking news for the people of Hunza Gojal.
May God rest their souls in enternal paece. Deep condolance with the deceased families.
Its such a heart touching news ..may God rest thr soul’s in HEAVEN..ameen.
Shocked to learn the sad accident. May Allah Almighty rest the departed souls in the the eternal peace and give courage to the affected families to bear the irreparable loss Aamin!
The people of remote villages in Gojal deserve health facilities which is their basic right.Do not expect anything from the government. I suggest civil society to come forward and do something. We all are with you!
very Sad News,May Almighty allah rest there soul in eternal peace..
Really tragic accident. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
A great loss for our area may allah rest their soul in eternal peace ameen
imran Ku
This is unbearable loss of precious human fellows and friends, indeed:
“In’na LilLah-e wa Inna elaihe ra’jeun”.
May Almighty bless the souls with eternal peace and grant patience and courage to the bereaved families..(Aameen).
I fail to understand why human life has become so cheap that every other day it is drained so pathetically. Although, Nature’s decison is final, but humans are given options asked to value it and live a respectful life.
Every other day, the plight of situation is worsening.
Professor Salman sb has very pertinentaly identified the issues and made a sincere suggestion for short-term solution.
Although since Ata-abad incidence, the valley has been under deep crisis, and the residents have been raising their voice even for their basic necessities of life, but our leadership (the two syeds) have their own priorities. Long-term solutions cannot be expected from the political leadership- nation has lost this qualification.
Besides, we have to review our own habits, as well. Normally, vehicles in such farflung areas are of very outdated conditions, without any proper technical checking, tyres are never changed on time, minor repairs are ignored, drivers are not properly trained, pessengers are over-loaded, drivers, especially on social occasions/ceremonies take/enjoy injurious substance, name a few.
A technical taskforce should investigate such incidents and through regulatory framework, should implement transport policy.
A series of tragedies for the people of GB….may Almighty Allah give rest to the departed souls in eternal peace and give courage to the families to bear this great loss…..Ameen….Aqil sb was really a good friend of me…missing a lot
a very sad news.may the souls ov the brthrs rest in peace.
Very sad news and a big accidental tragedy in the history of Gojal Hunza. Allah give the rest to souls of marhomine and patience to their families.
ameen……..
Shoked to hear about this tragic accident. May GOD rest all souls in eternal peach and may the families be blessed with courage to bear this great loss…Aameen!
Please people of GB,start paying taxes and then expect facilities from government
terribly!! an unforgettable loss of lives.. may god rest all souls in eternal peace and God almighty endow courage , patience and fortitude to the grieved families……
Very sad news may Almighty Allah forgive us and keepp every body safe. MAY ALNIGHTY ALL KEEPS THERE SOULS IN ETRNNAL PEACE. ITS DIFFICULT TO WAKEUP OUR PEOPELS BECOUSE THEY ARE ALWAYS SLEEPING, OTHERWISE THIS GOVT CAN NOT SURVIVE IN DAYS.
May Allah rest the depated souls in eternal peace and gave courage to bereaved family to bear this irrepearable loss.We lost many precious lives of intellectuals of our society due to carelessness. We need to be pro active through many perspectives i.e discouraging over speed, discouraging intoxication, ensuring in time treatment facility, to avoid be over loaded etc.
May Almighty Allah rest their souls in eternal peace. Ameen.
With due respect to our native professional Doctors who are working abroad or who left their profession please come to your village serve community .your community needs your help.
Please think
My heartfelt Condolence With Deceased Families. May Almighty Allah dwell him in Jannatul Firdaus and for Deceased Families to regain strength from this.
This loss is a huge loss of our area we have loss our professional and social mans whose where the key power of our region ,,,
May Allah rest their soul in eternal peace ameen ……
Imran ku
Indeed a very very shocking news. The area lost highly precious lives. The individuls were true volunteers and had vital role in communityy development in those mountain socitieis. We pray for the souls to rest in eternal peace and share the pain and grief with the bereaved families.
There is a serious need to learn from such unfortunate situation!
I wonder if relevant orgs/ institutions would take a lead to assess the causes of such accidents and organize orientation sessions for drivers. The KKH I guess is designed for 45 to 50 Km per hour but do most people/ drivers know about it?
The road has very recently been carpeted, vehicles are mostlty over loaded , vehicles and drivers fitness are questionable. That newly constructed part of the road has no traffic instruction signs and drivers do not get any orientation sessions.
Can we apply best practices so that such problems could be minimized if not eliminated!
I am certain motorway police ( having a reputation of competancy) can offer their best services if GB government forwards a formal request.
Darjat, Islamabad
Our hearts ache at the untimely loss of so many precious lives. We cannot imagine the devastation their families are going through. They were our close friends and relatives, and above all, they were outstanding members of our community. This is a difficult time for the bereaved families and the entire community. May Allah bless their souls and give their families courage to bear this loss.
My wife Khadijah and I extend our heartfelt condolences to all the families at this difficult time.
Khadijah and izhar Hunzai
It is really a great lose of hunza region may allah rest their souls in eternal peace.
My heartist condolance for the grieving families on this extremly tragic event. May God rest the souls in eternal peace. I am utterly shocked to know how far our communities are from very basic medical facilities. It’s indeed an eye opener for the local government and AKHP to revisit their basic mandate.
Dr. Liaqquat Khan
Wales UK.
May Allah rest the departed soul in eternal peace.—- Ameen.
“MY HUMBLE REQUEST TO THE REGIONAL COUNCIL OF HUNZA AND FOUR OF THE LOCAL COUNCILS OF GOJA ESPECIALLY,
—TO IMMEDIATE ARRANGE COUNSELLINGS SESSIONS FOR THE DRIVERS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT”.
— FOCUS CAN ALSO TAKE VERY SPECIAL SESSION ON HILLY AREA ROAD SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE & SAFE DRIVING.
Very tragic accident. May the souls of departed rest in peace. Amen.
There is a strong need of emergency medical facilities at tehsil level hospitals especially those located near Karakoram Highway. I heard that this is the 19th major accident, with over 50 lives taken, since some parts of KKH have been carpeted with road metal. Also that there is literally no protection in case some vehicle slips or skids out of the road.
It is indeed very sad news to know about the loss of nine precious lives in the tragic traffic accident. May Allah rest the departed souls in eternal peace Aameen. There is no immediate emergency medical team and recovery team available to meet such type of accidents. In such situations emergency response team acts immediately. This is a fatal accident. In most of the accidents it has been found that the fault lies with the driver because many factors are concerned with him and secondly the second seater who has the responsibility to guide the driver if both fail then the passengers can also guide the driver. If the driver is drunk or feeling sleepy and driving in hilly area then there is no reaction time available to control the vehicle. We can comment in a better way if complete information is made available on any accident .The issue needs to be discussed at community level to avoid it in future
Muhammad Yahya
Electrical Engineer
Indeed an unbelieveable and unbearable loss to the whole community. May God rest the departed souls in eternal peace and give courrage to the grieved families. As mentioned by many respectable respondents there must be some concrete responses to those mentiond issues regarding, medical facilities, fitness of vehicles and drivers, trafic signs and other safety measures, orientation to drive on the newly reconstructed road and other safety issues. Apart from the loss of all the social leaders I lossed two great friends Mr Aqil Shah and Mr Bakhtullah. Once again condole the grieved families and pray for their souls.
Very sad news….May Allah rest their soul in eternal peace… Ameen
The lost of precious human lives are unbearable and unrecoverable for the bereaved families, relatives near and dear ones but we believe that our soul is immortal, they may not be among us physically but in our hearts they will live forever, for this we believe on “In’na LilLah-e wa Inna elaihe ra’jeun”.
May Allah bless their souls with eternal peace and grant patience and courage to the bereaved families (Aameen).
We also pray for the injured persons that they may recover soon and soon return to the families.
Our sympathy and heartfelt condolences go out to the families of Uncle Ghlaum Rehman and extended entire family and Late Mujahid ‘s entire family, Late Uncle, Nasiruddin and Late Dad Ali’s entire family including brother Wazir Karim ,Uncle Fiaz Ahmad Diwan, Riaz Ahmad Riaz, Uncle Khuram Shah, Sultan Mehmood, Akbar and Apa Bibi Seyoum, Didar karim (Hussaini) Nawab & entire Family, Late, Shaukat’s entire family, Late, Nasir Karim’s entire family including Apa Moeenow, brother Moize Karim, brother Iskandar, Late Shahidin’s entire family, Late Aqil shah ‘s entire family including pop Kokan, Late Bakhtullah’s entire family including Irfan Karim and Apa Lal, Uncle Rozibye and entire family, all the deceased family members.
The Post accident has provoked a thought within us that may be cause of the following:
The main problem of so many causalities was due to non availability of medical staff at Government Gulmit Gojal Hospital. Even there was not deployed a single Doctor (Resident Medical Officer) RMO to treat or provide first aid. Some were taken to Aliabad Hunza for treatment while on the way they lost their lives. The Government should feel shame how in a Tehsil populated above 25,000 people there is not available even a single doctor since many years. How many people had died in past and deaths are continue till now and will be continue until the health infrastructure not take a priority.
Our leaders have been using huge force for their protocol purpose and have fund for this and there are not a Medical Doctor for the citizens. The Gojal people must take up the negligence by Government Hospital, Health Secretary as a special case to the court to provide justice to the victims so that in future this type of negligence will not be happen.
The silence by the civil society will encourage no fear and feeling for those who have responsibility to provide health needs and the circumstances will remain same and no changes will come in the hearts and minds of responsible persons.
Government should and must compensate the families and deploy a Medical Doctor at the priority base at Gulmit Government Hospital and must apologize from all the people of Gojal Hunza.
2. Another question arisen is,
The new contractor while metalizing the KKH road must be safety precautions for transportations on the edge of road on each turning. This route is International route where heavy and light vehicles come and go.
We understand that the safety measurement should be complete along with metalizing the route and should not wait to do after completing metalizing of route. The road safety measurements will minimize the accidental risks.
The Government must investigate the new contractor why he didn’t make the road safety precautions during metalizing route from Khyber to downward villages.
I appeal to GB Government that in this International route must be deployed a mobile Doctor with Ambulance at each Tehsil and also a Traffic Police mobile. Both mobiles will look after the safety of lives and transportation.
There are some another points which we appeal to the GB Government must realize the need of the time and also the importance of International standards because we have a International route.
It is an International route that links China and Pakistan and is also famous by ancient name “Silk Route” and in local language we call it Shahrah-e- Rasham. I think this route governs by National Highway Authority OR FWO or whoever is given authority must be responsible to protect the lives of passengers and as well as the lives of vehicles.
Before transporting the people the maintenance of vehicle should not be ignored. Is the maintenance regulated by the Government or not. Here in our country Pakistan the whole transport system is not regulated and controlled and thus vehicles run on road even after the expiry of body, engine etc. We see that there is no any system to check out the maintenance that causes to many accidents as a result people lost their lives.
In other Countries except Pakistan they ensure the maintenance or fitness and regulate and monitor regularly but however we have not any authorized Government Institution that ensures the fitness of vehicle.
There must be a Government authority to issue a fitness certificate on the base of technical soundness. If the vehicle is overage, warranty is completed that vehicle must not be allowed to use. These measurements to protect the lives and minimize the risks and nothing else.
In our country getting a driving license is not hard task. In other countries this is a difficult task to get a driving license. They provide trainings and after completing a hard training then Government issue Certificates. Here in our country issuance a driving license is not so much difficult and we think that the changes must bring about in rules to minimize the risks. To get a license there should be criteria of matriculate so that he/she understands well the rules and regulations.