Recovery of Missing Tourists’ Bodies in Skardu

Rescue personnel verified on Saturday that the remains of four tourists, who had disappeared while journeying from Gilgit to Skardu, were discovered in a deep gorge near Istak village, situated in Skardu’s Roundu valley.

According to rescue officer Ghulam Rasool, the vehicle carrying the tourists tragically fell into a ravine along the Baltistan Highway. Two bodies have been successfully recovered, and efforts are ongoing to retrieve the remaining two.

Law enforcement officials stated that the tourists, who were reported missing on the night of May 15, were en route from Gilgit to Skardu when their vehicle veered out of control and plunged into the gorge.

The deceased include young individuals from Gujrat, Punjab. Family sources have confirmed that one of the victims held Pakistani-Italian nationality.

Search and rescue operations had been underway for several days before the vehicle was located in the Istak Nullah. Local authorities and rescue teams are persisting in their efforts to recover the remaining bodies and clear the accident site.

In a separate incident last month, a Thai woman lost her life, and another individual sustained injuries when a vehicle transporting foreign tourists was struck by falling rocks in the mountainous Ganache district of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

The incident transpired around midday near the Ghawari area, as the tourists were travelling from Skardu to Khaplu.

Local officials reported that the vehicle, identified as a TZ model, was impacted by rocks descending from a hillside, resulting in the immediate death of one passenger and injuries to another.

As per a statement from Rescue 1122 Ghanche, there were five occupants in the vehicle at the time of the incident.