130 dead in Pakistan, Afghanistan
Print Edition
AVALANCHES, flooding and harsh winter weather has killed more than 130 people across Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent days, Pakistan officials said yesterday, as authorities struggled to reach people stranded by heavy snowfall.
At least 93 people died and 76 were injured across Pakistan — with several still missing — while a further 39 were killed in Afghanistan, according to officials in both countries.
Forecasts suggest more harsh weather is on the way.
Pakistani Kashmir was the worst-hit area, with 62 people killed and 10 others missing, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement.
In the picturesque but conflict-riven Neelum Valley in Kashmir, heavy snowfall triggered several avalanches, including one that killed at least 19 people.
Frequent avalanches and landslides occur in Kashmir during the winter, often blocking roads and leaving communities isolated.
Authorities have shut down schools, while several highways and roads were closed across the country’s northern mountainous areas, according to officials.
Two Pakistani officials said many villagers were still stranded by the avalanches in the Neelum Valley area following heavy rain that also triggered landslides. Many people were reported missing and feared dead as rescue efforts got under way, one of the officials said.
Rescuers had managed to extract more than 50 people from the snow and airlifted them out of the area for treatment.
Authorities also scrambled to provide relief to local people with another spell of heavy snow expected on Friday.
“The severe snowfalls and landslides in AJK have caused misery & deaths,” tweeted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, referring to the part of Kashmir controlled by Islamabad.
“I have asked the National Disaster Management Authority, the military and all our federal ministers to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on an emergency footing to the affected people in AJK,” Khan tweeted.
To the southeast, in Balochistan province, at least 31 people had been killed in separate weather-related incidents.
“Most of those who died were women and children,” said Mohammad Younus, an official with the provincial disaster management authority, adding that hundreds remained stranded.
Across the border in Afghanistan, more than 300 houses were either destroyed or partially damaged throughout the country, said Ahmad Tamim Azimi, a spokesman for the Natural Disaster Management Authority.
“A cold snap, heavy snowfall and rains that started two weeks ago have caused damage,” he said, adding that most casualties were caused after roofs collapsed under thick snow.
Hardest hit were southern Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and western Herat provinces.
In Herat, seven people — all members of the same family and including children — died when their roof caved in, Azimi added.
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