At least 24 soldiers were martyred and five others injured when a minibus slid-off a mountainous road and plunged into a deep ravine on Karakorum Highway near Samarnala in Kohistan district early on Saturday.
The bus, carrying 30 troops, was on its way to Gilgit from Rawalpindi. According to initial reports, the incident occurred due to over-speeding.
The emergency workers immediately rushed to accident site and rushed the dead and injured to the nearby hospitals.
The ISPR in a statement said the all the soldiers were originally from Gilgit and were on leave.
Careless driving, over-loading, over-speeding and below-par roads are the main culprits of the accidents in the country, which annually claim thousands of lives.
