Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday approved deployment of National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) in Gilgit-Baltistan to improve the flow of traffic on the Karakoram Highway.
The prime minister approved this plan on the request of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan to prevent accidents on the Karakoram Highway.
The development comes two weeks after at least 20 people were killed and 21 others injured in a passenger bus accident on the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer District on May 3.
According to Diamer District Rescue Officer Shoukat Riaz, the bus operated by a private company was en route from Rawalpindi to Gilgit when the driver lost control of the vehicle near Gunar Farm.
Rescue 1122 and other emergency response teams initiated a rescue operation and transported the injured to Chillas Hospital for urgent medical treatment. Rescue sources said the death toll might rise further as the majority of the injured were in critical condition.
An emergency was declared at the hospital, with an urgent appeal for blood donations for the injured.
