Seven people died and seven others were seriously injured when a van carrying 14 members of one family plunged into a deep ravine on Baroha Link Road in Murree and caught fire. The Murree van accident happened as the family returned from a wedding ceremony, rescue officials said.
The van fell into the ravine and burst into flames. Seven members of the family died at the scene. The seven injured survivors sustained serious injuries, and rescue teams moved them to Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi for treatment.
What happened on Baroha Link Road
The family travelled together in a single passenger van. They were on their way home after attending a wedding when the vehicle left the road on Baroha Link Road and dropped into a deep ravine below.
Rescue officials said the van caught fire after the fall. The fire added to the danger for the survivors and slowed the early rescue effort, as teams worked to reach the wreckage in the ravine.
The cause of the fire remains unknown. Rescue officials have not yet said what made the van leave the road, and no official account of the cause has been released so far.
The injured and the rescue effort
The seven injured passengers were all in serious condition when rescue teams reached them. They were transferred to Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, the main public hospital that receives serious cases from Murree and the surrounding hill areas.
Rescue teams carried out the operation in difficult terrain. Ravine rescues in the Murree hills require ropes, stretchers and extra hands, and the fire at the wreckage made the first stage of the work harder still.
The names of the dead and injured have not been released. Officials have also not said how many of the victims were women and children, beyond confirming that the passengers were members of a single family.
Murree van accident in context
The Murree crash is the second fatal hill-road accident reported in the region within days. A jeep plunged down a mountain slope on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, killing all seven people on board, as covered in our report on the Muzaffarabad jeep plunge.
That crash happened on a landslide-affected stretch of road, and the vehicle fell between 1,000 and 1,500 feet below the road. Local residents retrieved the bodies before Rescue 1122 teams joined them.
An earlier van accident in Neelum Valley also ended in a ravine, as covered in our report on the Neelum Valley van crash. Together, the three crashes underline a repeated risk on northern Pakistan’s narrow hill roads, where a single loss of control can leave no margin for recovery.
Hill roads around Murree carry heavy family and wedding traffic at weekends. Steep drops run beside many stretches, and a vehicle that leaves the road often falls far before it stops. That geography is why rescue teams, rather than ambulances alone, lead the response to crashes in the area.
What happens next
Police and rescue officials will now establish how the van left the road and why it caught fire. The findings will matter for the families of the victims, and for any safety steps on Baroha Link Road itself.
For now, the confirmed facts are stark: 14 people from one family in one van, seven dead and seven in hospital. The injured remain under treatment at Holy Family Hospital, and their condition will decide the final toll of the crash.
Source reporting: The Express Tribune.
How many people died in the Murree van accident?
Seven people died when the van plunged into a ravine on Baroha Link Road in Murree and caught fire.
How many people were injured?
Seven people were seriously injured. Rescue teams transferred them to Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi for treatment.
Where did the accident happen?
The van fell into a deep ravine on Baroha Link Road in Murree while the family returned from a wedding ceremony.
What caused the fire?
The cause of the fire remains unknown, according to rescue officials. No official account of what made the van leave the road has been released so far.
