Neelum Valley accident: 4 children killed as madrasah van falls 500m into ravine

Four children were killed on Saturday morning, 24 October 2026, when the van taking them to a madrasah went off a mountain road and fell more than 500 metres into a rocky ravine in the upper Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Dawn reported, citing the district disaster management officer.

What happened

The accident happened at about 8:30am PKT near Ghorray Nakkah Morr in Nagdar, roughly 22 km from Athmuqam, the district headquarters. The van was travelling on the Keran bypass link road and had covered barely half a kilometre when the driver lost control on a sharp bend, according to Neelum Valley District Disaster Management Officer Akhtar Ayoub.

• Killed: 4 children. Three died at the scene and one later at the District Headquarters Hospital in Athmuqam.
• Injured: 3 other occupants, moved to Muzaffarabad because of their critical condition.
• Fall: more than 500 metres, onto rocks.

The ages and names of the children have not been released, and we will not publish them.

Reaction

AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Tariq Farooq offered condolences to the families and, in a post on X, urged drivers to take extreme care on mountain roads.

Third deadly fall in Neelum this year

This is not the first such crash in the valley in 2026. In April a passenger van fell into a ravine in the Maidan Nambatai area, killing 3 people and injuring 10, and on 11 May a jeep plunged into a rocky streambed, killing 4 people, two of them women, Dawn noted.

Travelling in Neelum this season

Many families from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore drive to Neelum in late October for the autumn colours. Most valley roads above Athmuqam are narrow, unguarded and full of blind bends. If you go:

• Hire a local driver who knows the road, and avoid driving after dark.
• Check that the vehicle's brakes and tyres are sound before the climb; overloaded vans and jeeps are a common factor in these crashes.
• Save local emergency numbers before you lose signal, and tell someone your route.

Planning the trip by car? Our fuel cost calculator works out what the drive will cost at today's petrol price.