KHAPLU, GILGIT BALTISTAN: Shahnawaz couldn’t contain his excitement when he learnt that his grade 10 results were out.
But as his remote village in Chorbat Valley in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region did not have an Internet connection, the 17-year-old jumped into his car and drove to another village, excited to access his results online. He also picked up two hitchhikers along the way.
At one point, as he drove down a narrow, unpaved road with mountains on one side and the Shyok River on the other, Shahnawaz made a sharp right turn and lost control of the brakes. The car plunged into the raging river below.
Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of the two hitchers but Shahnawaz remains missing to date.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads, particularly in many rural and northern areas, are in poor condition. Particularly in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, road tragedies are daily news. In July 2023 alone, at least 41 people, including tourists, were killed in road mishaps across the region, rescue officials said.
“The roads are in a totally dilapidated condition across Gilgit-Baltistan,” Ashraf Hussain, Shahnawaz’s uncle, told Arab News. “The body of my nephew is still missing and we have been searching near the corners of rivers.”
According to Gilgit Baltistan’s Rescue 1122 department, at least 77 people had been killed due to road accidents from January to July his year. July itself was a particularly deadly month with 41 dead.
Last year, at least 77 people died and 467 were wounded in road mishaps.
Muhammad Ayaz, a senior superintendent of police (SSP) from GB’s Police Department, advised non-local drivers to observe “extra care” when driving in the mountainous region due to the dilapidated road conditions.
“We have started stopping and checking the speed of vehicles entering the Babusar area of Diamer district in GB in order to minimize and control traffic accidents,” Ayaz told Arab News.
The police official said most road accidents involved non-local drivers with tourist groups who were unfamiliar with ditches on the unpaved roads as well as their sharp bends and dangerous turns.
Last week, at least eight people were killed and nine injured when a vehicle carrying a group of tourists went out of control and plunged into a ravine in the Gittidas area near Babusar Pass.
“I also suggest that tourists not use gas-fueled vehicles because in the last accident near Babusar Top, the vehicle caught fire after the car crashed, burning eight people to death,” Ayaz added.
Zaheer Shah, a district emergency officer for Rescue 1122, said rash driving practices such as over-speeding and overtaking, as well as an influx of tourists in GB, were behind the rise in accidents.
“They [the drivers] think the roads here are like Punjab but in GB, you can’t drive like that because roads have sharp turns, bends and edges,” Shah told Arab News.
GB Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani said a compressive awareness drive had been launched in the region to address the issue.
“We are trying our level best to improve [the situation],” he said, “and by next season, things will be better.”
