The toll in flash floods and landslides, triggered by heavy rainfall in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), has crossed 100, according to reports. The landslides has cut off the Gilgit-Baltistan region from the rest of the country.
More than 70 people were killed in the Gilgit-Baltistan region and over 30 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since heavy rainfall started in these regions Saturday, Press Trust of India reported.
At least 20 people were feared trapped in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kohistan district under the debris of around 200 metres of roads washed away by landslides.
The heavy rainfall has also damaged hydro-power projects, triggered several landslides in the affected region and blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) that connects Kashghar in Chinese territory Xinjiang with Gilgit and Abbottabad through the Khunjerab Pass.
"We fear some casualties as some passengers might have came under landslides. There are dozens of other passengers stranded on KKH without food and shelter," Agence France-Presse quoted a spokesperson from the regional chief minister's office as saying.
Over 1,200 houses have also been damaged since Saturday, AFP quoted national diaster management authorities as saying.
There is shortage of food in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and PoK as roads to Skardu, Astore and Ghizer have been blocked by the landslides. Several residents and tourists in Kohistan, Diamer, Nagar and Hunza in the Nelum valley have been trapped. The state authorities have not been able to provide relief materials and medicines to them.
"I am stuck in Hunza as roads are blocked. There is no light and also no signs of immediate restoration of roads. Children and women are also among the stranded people," PTI quoted Gojal resident Amin Beg as saying.
"The situation is getting worse with every passing day but authorities and political administration are nowhere to be seen. We are waiting for government to come forward but so far there is a complete silence," another resident said.
"The government has sent a request to army for helicopters so that patients and foreigners can be flown out," Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Works Muhammad Iqbal said.
