Seven people, including a father and his two sons, were killed on Sunday when a passenger jeep plunged down a mountain slope on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. All seven died at the scene.
According to police and the district administration, the jeep had left Nakka Shakkar Pattiyan village for Seri Darra and had covered barely three kilometres when the driver lost control on a landslide-hit stretch near Sathra Podemar village at around noon. The vehicle rolled over several times and came to rest roughly 1,000 to 1,500 feet below the road.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Zeeshan Nisar said the bodies were scattered across the site. Local residents began the recovery effort and were later joined by Rescue 1122 personnel.
The dead were identified as the driver Abdul Waheed, 40; Muhammad Khalid, 30; Shafaat, 35; Fayyaz Ahmed, 50, and his sons Ubaid Fayyaz, 27, and Azam Fayyaz, 17; and Iftikhar Hussain, 18. Police said the bodies had been handed over to their families for burial.
Road accidents are common in AJK's mountainous areas, where poor roads, careless driving and badly maintained vehicles are often blamed. The crash came a day after four children from one family were killed in Neelum Valley when their vehicle fell into a ravine.