Massive landslide near Torkham border buries trucks, kills at least 2 people

A landslide during a thunder and lightning storm on the main road through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber Pass buried more than 20 trucks on Tuesday, killing at least two people, with dozens more feared trapped, officials said.

Abdul Nasir Khan, the deputy commissioner of the Khyber district, told Reuters that two Afghan citizens had been killed in the landslide and authorities were trying to recover the bodies.

Separately, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi said eight injured persons had been provided first aid care, while four had been moved to the hospital.

The official said a fire had broken out immediately after the landslide as drivers were cooking meals for sehri on gas stoves. “The blaze is now under control,” he told Dawn.com.

Faizi said heavy machinery including 12 ambulances, four fire vehicles, three recovery vehicles and three heavy excavators had been deployed at the site as the wreckage was extensive.

Photos shared by officials showed truck containers mostly buried in huge piles of rocks.

According to a statement issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Authority, the landslide took place on the main route connecting the Pakistan-Afghanistan Torkham border at 2:30am today.

Resultantly, about 15 to 20 cargo vehicles were suppressed under the landslide, it said, adding that teams from Khyber, Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda and Mardan were participating in the ongoing rescue operation.

Karakoram Highway blocked

Meanwhile, the Karakoram Highway was blocked at several points today after a landslide hit the main artery, suspending connectivity between Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad.

Dasu Station House Officer (SHO) Noor Nabi Shah told Dawn.com that heavy rainfall on Monday night caused flooding in the Uchar Nullah and damaged a makeshift bridge near the Barseen Chinese camp of the Dasu hydropower project.

Along with the Karakoram Highway, several roads in Upper Kohistan and Diamer have been blocked due to the landslides, he said, adding that several passengers had been left stranded.