Two passengers were killed and the driver injured seriously when an avalanche hit a Chitral-bound vehicle near Lowari Pass in Dir Upper district on Monday.

Police sources said a vehicle was heading to Chitral from Dir when an avalanche struck the vehicle near Nihargah, killing two persons on the spot. They were identified as Mushtaq and Abidullah, residents of Qulandi, a town 12 kilometres northwest of here.

Driver of the vehicle Muhammad Jan was pulled out alive from the snow. He was seriously injured and rushed to the district headquarters hospital. Qulandi, Nihargah and Lowari Pass receive heavy snowfall on Sunday. The road to Chitral has already been blocked for traffic at the Lowari Top by heavy snowfall. The authorities had allowed use of the newly excavated tunnel to facilitate people’s movement in winter. The road approaching the tunnel was also blocked by a recent heavy snowfall.

Meanwhile in Bannu, a traffic cop sustained injuries when he mistakenly fired his official gun during his duty hours here Monday. Source said that Ikramullah, a traffic police cop, was cleaning his Kalashnikov rifle when it went off. He got injured and was rushed to the DHQ where his condition was stated to be stable.

 

 

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