Car carrying family of 5 rolls down
Sanjeev K Sharma
KISHTWAR, Mar 14: A kid, 4, narrowly escaped a fatal road accident in this mountainous district while his entire family including two brothers and parents lost their lives after the car in which the entire family was travelling rolled down and landed 300 feet below.
However, the survivor kid was injured critically and was undergoing treatment at a hospital till last reports.
Sources informed that the ill fated car of Maruti Swift make bearing registration number JK17-2460 was on its way from Kishtwar to Bhandarkote and was driven by Yassir Hussain, 43, son of Abdul Gani Butt, who was an ambulance driver by profession and also got killed in the accident which took place near Bhandarkote.
Other three persons killed in the accident included wife of the deceased driver Shazada Begum, 36 and his two sons Artash, 8, and Ilaf, 6, all residents of Berwar. His third son, the lone survivor in the deadly accident, Arsh, 4, was injured and was under treatment at District Hospital Kishtwar till last reports.
When contacted, SSP Kishtwar Abdul Qayum informed that beyond Kishtwar there are very sharp curves which the driver might have failed to negotiate and the vehicle rolled down.
He informed that condition of the road was, however, good.
“We are maintaining proper vigil at our end but we also appeal to the drivers working on these mountainous roads to adopt utmost care while driving here as topography of the area is very different,” district Police head of Kishtwar said.
He also said that Police has registered a case in this regard and started investigations to ascertain exact reason behind the accident.
DC Kishtwar Dr. Devansh Yadav informed that geographically the roads of Kishtwar are very dangerous due to a different type of topography.
“Reasons for the accident are under investigation and nothing could be said right now on that,” he said.
Dr. Yadav also said that outside Kishtwar the authorities concerned have constructed certain link roads on a narrow stretch to ensure one way traffic movement safely but the ill fated car of today’s accident used the old route avoiding the link road.
“Neither it was a rainy day today nor there was bad weather and the vehicle which met accident was also in a good condition so, I will just call the accident as an unfortunate,” he said.
When asked why parapets were not constructed along the road from where the car rolled down, he said that he enquired the same from the officials of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) who claimed that the road was so narrow that parapet could not be constructed there.
Dr. Yadav further said that he will personally visit the accident site tomorrow to check the ground realities.
“From our end whatever help is required by the victim family will be provided,” the DC Kishtwar maintained adding: “We have installed sinages at certain places and have identified black spots to prevent accidents but the place where accident occurred today was not a black spot as no accident has taken place there for the last 3-5 years while there are over 50 black spots identified in the district.”
Meanwhile, MoS PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh has expressed serious concern over the accident.
He has assured all possible help to the dependants of the deceased and instructed the authorities to provide the best possible medical care to the injured.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
