SRINAGAR: In a tragic incident reported in Neelum valley, on the other side the LoC in Kupwara, as many as 11 tourists – mostly students, were drowned in Neelum (Kishanganga) river. So far four bodies have been recovered and the searching is in progress, reports appearing in Pakistan media said.
Kishangnaga and Neelum is the same river with two names that is itself the LoC for most of the divide between Gurez and Karnah. Both the sides have set up one major power station on this river and the NHPC owned projected is being formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 19.
“Though we are yet to confirm an exact figure, it is believed that between 20 and 25 persons were standing on the footbridge when it crumbled,” Mirza Zahid Hussain, the superintendent of police in Neelum Valley told Dawn newspaper. “The violent current immediately swept away the victims; so far, four bodies have been recovered.” Some reports put the number of missing tourists at around 40.
An official at a control room in Muzaffarabad said that three of the deceased had been identified as Shahzeb, Abdul Rehman and Nadeem, adding that it was yet to be confirmed which city they belonged to. He said eight students — identified as Anam, Alina, Waleed, Sajid, Hamza, Rashid, Zubair (all residents of Faisalabad) and Iqra Mazhar (resident of Multan) — were rescued and had been admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital Athmuqam where their condition was said to be stable.
The tragedy occurred when the tourists, many of whom said to be the students from Faisalabad and Multan, were picnicking along the gushing Jagran Nullah near the town of Kundal Shahi, a town located some 75 kilometres northeast of Muzaffarabad.
“The students were enjoying the view of the emerald green water and taking selfies when suddenly it collapsed, sweeping them away,” Raja Mubasher Ejaz, who witnessed the footbridge’s collapse, was quoted saying. The Jagran Nullah merges into Neelum River some 4 kilometres ahead of the site of the incident. “Four of the tourists who clung to the wooden bars of the collapsed bridge was immediately rescued by the locals at the site while the other four were recovered after a little while from a distance.”
The spot has emerged as a literal suicide spot for tourists in the fascinating Neelum region. Last year on July 7, a tourist family from Rawalpindi also devoured almost in the same fashion. Officials said they had kept a board on the site warming people not to overcrowd the fragile bridge but the selfie-seekers were avoiding the advisory.
