Rain, snowfall trigger landslides in GB, blocking Karakoram Highway at multiple locations
GILGIT: Fresh rain and snowfall continued in Gilgit-Baltistan on Wednesday as landslides blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) at multiple locations between GB’s Diamer and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohistan.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had earlier issued an alert for an increased risk of glacial lake outburst flood, snow avalanches, and landslides in GB and upper KP till March 12.
Due to the blockages, thousands of passengers, including patients, elders, and children travelling towards GB or to other parts of the country, remained stranded at multiple locations on Tuesday night.
According to Diamer police, landslides occurred at multiple locations in Diamer and Kohistan districts on Tuesday. The landslides blocked the KKH at multiple locations from Upper Kohistan’s Barseen to the Pattan area in Lower Kohistan.
According to a statement issued by Diamer Deputy Commissioner Attaur Rehman Kakar, the KKH has been closed due to landslides at several places in Upper and Lower Kohistan.
He said the work of removing debris would start by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) when the weather conditions improved.
According to police, most parts of GB received rainfall while upper areas received fresh snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, creating difficulties for local residents.
Police said intermittent rain caused landslides in remote areas that disconnected people’s access to other areas.
According to a statement issued by the Gilgit DC, the PMD had predicted partly cloudy skies along with strong winds and thundershowers in different areas from March 9 to March 12 (Thursday).
The DC appealed to people to avoid unnecessary travel in this severe weather and to ensure their vehicles had snow chains when travel was unavoidable. In addition, people living in dangerous locations, especially those living near glaciers and those with weak infrastructure, were advised to take precautionary measures.
Meanwhile, the Diamer administration in a statement on Wednesday said the KKH section from Gilgit to Rawalpindi had been blocked at multiple locations in Kohistan and Diamer.
Lightning strike kills 3 in Shangla
Separately, three members of a family, a couple and their son, were killed when lightning struck their house in the Lilownai Achar area of KP’s Shangla district in the early hours of Wednesday.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Rasool Khan Sharif told Dawn that the incident occurred in a remote village a few miles from the district headquarters, Alpuri, during a spell of severe weather.
The deceased were identified as a husband and wife, as well as one of their sons. Three other children in the house survived the strike unharmed.
The incident took place as heavy rains continued to lash the northern parts of KP for a second consecutive day.
Additional input from Umar Bacha