At least 6 people died and dozens were still missing after the bridge collapsed in river Neelum valley.

NEELUM: At least twenty tourists were swept away when a bridge collapsed over the Jagran Nullah in Kundal Shahi area on Sunday, according to the police.

Police Officers said that we had stopped tourists to cross the bridge, at least 31 tourists were crossing the bridge when it is collapsed. Officials said that the bridge is collapsed due to overload, as the bridge was already damaged so that’s why this incident took place.

Pakistan Army officers are also assisting to speed up the rescue operation.

Till now 6 Dead Bodies are found and at least 11 people are rescued and moved to the local hospital for emergency treatment. Report claim that 4 bodies and 16 injured were moved to Muzaffarabad from Shahkot via helicopter, However, the extremely cold water of the stream and its strong current are hampering efforts to recover the persons.

Locals said the victims were likely students of two medical colleges Lahore and Faisalabad, who were come for seeing the beautiful and natural scenes of Neelum Valley.

Sources said that the bridge could only withstand a maximum of four people and already there were many warning signs on the bridge but the tourists still thronged the bridge.

Control room created

AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider took notice of the incident and sought-after a report from the relevant officers.

The prime minister ordered the officials to established the emergency control center in Muzaffarabad and directed families of the victims to contact the center at 0582220097.
Prime minister of AJK said, ‘the bridge was not capable of holding 25 people, the bridge was capable of holding only 4 to 5 people at one time.
He conjointly directed the deputy commissioner to hurry up rescue efforts he further said; Negligence will not be accepted speed up the rescue operations.

Later, Haider departed Muzaffarabad for Neelum natural valley to focus on the rescue efforts.

In a message, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed sympathy and regret over the incident.

Armed Forces reach the site of Incident.

A Pakistan army team of SSG commandoes, Navy Seals, Doctors and Paramedical staff reached the site of incident on the instructions of General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement

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