5 killed as coach overturns on Hazara Expressway

MANSEHRA: Five persons were killed and four others sustained injuries when a Rawalpindi-bound passenger coach overturned on the Hazara Expressway near the Kalgan Mor area here on Tuesday.

“We have shifted the injured to a nearby health facility after the accident,” Amir Khadam, the Rescue 1122 official, told reporters.

The coach, carrying passengers from Gilgit to Rawalpindi, was apparently in high speed and the driver lost control over the steering near the Kalgan Mor area.

Rescue 1122 personnel, along with ambulances, rushed to the scene and shifted the injured to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital where doctors pronounced Shafqat Ahmad, Mehnat Amarjan, Abdullah Qutab Khan and Mohammad Farooq - all residents of Diamer - and Altaf Ghazi of Balakot dead.

Four of the injured were referred to Ayub Medical Complex Hospital in Abbottabad, where the condition of two was reported to be serious.

Amir Khadam said that the accident rate on the Mansehra-Thakot section of the Hazara Expressway was high due to sharp curves.

“Motorists and drivers should be more cautious while driving on the Mansehra-Thakot section of the Hazara Expressway where the road narrows down,” he added.