ISLAMABAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people, including women and children, were killed and five others critically injured after a passenger van plunged into a deep ravine in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local rescue officials told Xinhua on Monday.
The accident occurred in the Swat district of the province on Sunday when the van was traveling from the tourist resort of Malam Jabba to Sair Telegram on a mountainous route, the officials said.
Rescue teams and local residents rushed to the site and launched a relief operation and shifted five bodies and 11 injured to a hospital, where six of the injured succumbed to their injuries during treatment.
The medics feared that the death toll might rise because all of the injured were reportedly in critical condition.
Local police had launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.
According to police, the initial investigation revealed that the driver lost control of the vehicle on the narrow road, causing it to fall into a gorge. ■