Four Pak Army soldiers among 16 passengers martyred as landslide crushes van in Skardu

SKARDU: Four Pak Army soldiers were martyred after a bus was crushed by landsliding on Skardu Road in Gilgit-Baltistan, ARY News reported on Sunday.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Suna Khan, Asif, Irshad and Farooq.

According to details, a landslide at Tangoos area in Gilgit-Baltistan region hit a passenger van leaving 16 people in the vehicle dead.

The ill-fated passenger van was traveling from Rawalpindi to Skardu when the incident took place in midnight at Tangoos, destroying the vehicle, Assitant Commissioner Rondau said in a statement.

Rescue teams and security personnel rushed to the scene and launched a relief operation to remove the rubble and retrieve passengers of the van under the debris.

The rescue operation has been completed and all dead bodies have been retrieved from the debris, according to the rescue sources. The rescuers removed 16 dead bodies from the debris.

Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan region Mir Afzal has expressed his sorrow over the tragic incident and expressed his condolences with the bereaved families.

The chief minister also directed the authorities to take steps to send the bodies of the deceased to their families to their native areas.