Rescue services recovered six more bodies from the river Jhelum near the Garari Bridge in Rawalpindi on Friday after a hi-ace van plunged into the river a day earlier, taking the death toll from the incident to 10.

On Thursday, a van carrying more than 12 passengers was coming from Hajera in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) when it plunged into the river while navigating a turn near Garari Bridge in the Kahuta area of Rawalpindi. Four bodies were recovered in yesterday’s operation, which had to be halted later in the day due to low light conditions.

In the operation, which resumed on Friday, at least six more bodies were recovered, Rescue 1122 said in a statement.

Three passengers remain missing.

Earlier, District Emergency Officer 1122 Rawalpindi Sighbatullah confirmed the recovery of four people.

A day earlier, low-light conditions did not allow divers to search for the missing. Rescue officials had expressed fear that the river’s current may have carried away the missing passengers.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rawalpindi, Engineer Amir Khattak, had directed all relevant authorities, including health, Rescue 1122, traffic police and tehsil administration to launch a coordinated operation for the rescue of the passengers.

On August 24 last year, a fatal accident at the same Garari bridge claimed 24 lives after a bus plunged into the river, while in another accident over 14 passengers were seriously injured in a bus accident in the area on the Kahuta- Hajera AJK road in October 2024.