ISLAMABAD: Five more bodies were retrieved from Avalanche hit Neelum Valley in Azad Jammu Kashmir on Wednesday as the death toll from an avalanche that had struck a day earlier rose to 67.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), five more bodies were recovered and further search is continue. In Avalanche 22 shops and more than a hundred houses were struck as a result of the avalanche, with at least 91 houses completely destroyed and 101 partially damaged. The cold snap that caused the avalanche is likely to continue.
Avalanches, flooding and extreme weather conditions have claimed more than 130 lives across Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent days, officials said on Tuesday as authorities struggled to reach people stranded by heavy snowfall.
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 northern mountainous areas, according to officials.
“The severe snowfalls and landslides in Azad Kashmir have caused misery and deaths,” tweeted Prime Minister Imran Khan late on Tuesday. “I have asked the NDMA, the military & all our federal ministers to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance to affected people,” he added.
To the southeast, in Balochistan, at least 31 people have 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.
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 NDMA.
“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. Harsh winters often take a heavy toll in mountainous Afghanistan, and the country remains poor despite billions of dollars in aid.
Read more: 92 dead, dozens hurt, houses cave in as snow, rain set new record
