Two Lahore tourists die, 7 missing as jeep plunges into Neelum River

LAHORE: Two tourists died, five suffered injuries and another seven went missing after a jeep, coming from the upper belt of Neelum Valley with 14 occupants, plunged into the Neelum River on Monday.

According to District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the incident took place when the jeep, coming from Taobat (the last village of Neelum Valley) to Kel Town, careened into the Neelum River near Phallawi owing to bad road condition.

The group of 12 people, all of whom belonged to Lahore, were on board the jeep with the driver and his helper. Rescue teams rushed to the scene soon after receiving the information and started rescue operation.

The rescue officials retrieved a body and rushed the five injured to a hospital while one injured succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Search operation for seven others was still under way.

The deceased and injured were identified as Hussain s/o Sheraz Ahmed, Muhammad Zameer Sheikh s/o Sheikh Safdar, Moin Ahmed, s/o Javed Iqbal Ibrahim s/o Abdul Majeed driver Shandaas Neelam Rafiq s/o Nadeem and helper Shandaas Neelam.

Meanwhile, Umair s/o Safdar Sheikh, Shahnawaz s/o Sheikh Maqsood, Azir s/o Ashraf, Bilal s/o Muhammad Maqbool, Ghulam Meeran s/o Javed Iqbal, Zeeshan, Waleed, Rafiq, and Rahim were among the missing persons.

The rescue and relief operation along with media coverage of the tragedy was hampered by the non-availability of communication system in the area.