'Deadly winter' kills dozens of people in Pakistan

 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Avalanches and landslides triggered by heavy snowfall and incessant rain across Pakistan have left at least 35 people.
• Many others suffered injuries in rain-related incidents, mainly house collapse and road crashes amid poor visibility.
• Road transport and communication are severely affected in different parts of Pakistan.

 

At least 57 people were killed and others were missing after avalanches in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir over the last 24 hours, senior government officials said on Tuesday. 

Two officials said many villagers were still stranded in the avalanches in the Neelum valley area following heavy rains that also triggered landslides.

Many people were reported missing and feared dead as rescue efforts got under way, one of the officials said.

The harsh weather conditions have created immense hardship for people across the country, with road transport and communication severely affected.

Avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents claimed at least 21 more lives and left scores of others injured on Monday, the Dawn newspaper reported. A total of 11 people have reportedly died in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, seven in Punjab and three in Balochistan, it said.

Several others suffered injuries in rain-related incidents, mainly house collapse and road crashes amid poor visibility.

On Monday, the media reports said at least 14 people, including women and children, were killed and over a dozen injured in several parts of Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province.

Relief, disaster and civil defense secretary Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri said the heavy snowfall and rains have blocked several roads in high altitude areas.

Due to heavy snowfall on Khojak Top, the communication lines between Ziarat and Quetta have been severely affected. The Quetta-Chaman highway was also closed for traffic, he said.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Karakoram highway was closed due to landslide in the Pattan area of Lower Kohistan, while Chitral district was cut-off from the rest of the province due to heavy snowfall, the report said. Upperparts of the province — Malakand and Hazara divisions — received heavy snowfall, leading to the closure of main roads. Six people were injured and four houses collapsed in the rain-related incidents across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Intermittent rain caused flooding in low-lying areas of Sialkot, Gujrat and some other cities in the largest province of Punjab, the report said.

(With inputs from agencies.)