Floods and landslides from heavy rains claim 10 lives in North

MUZAFFARABAD: Heavy rains and cloud bursts have wreaked havoc in Azad Kashmir, Kaghan Valley, and Gilgit-Baltistan, resulting in the death of 10 people, including women.

Five members of a family were killed in a cloudburst on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, while 50 tourists trapped in the Ratti Gali Nallah area of Neelum Valley were rescued.

500 tourists are stranded in the base camp, several bridges have been washed away, and roads are closed in these areas.

The bodies of a woman and a girl were recovered, while the search for the three people who were swept away is underway.

According to the Azad Kashmir Disaster Management Authority, five members of the same family were killed in a cloudburst in the Jhgian Nallah of Patka Naseerabad tehsil of Muzaffarabad.

The statement said that a woman was also killed by a stone in Dhan Dalyar in UC Machhiara, and a woman was killed and another injured after being swept away in the Palandri drain.

The SDMA said that three shops and a windmill were washed away by the Nardujian drain in Jhelum Valley. Three people were rescued from dry land during the flooding of Chhatar Nala in Poonch district.

The statement said that 400 tourists were rescued after a car was swept away in a drain in the Bagh district.

The highway connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Kashmir is closed at Lohar Gali due to landslides. The Bani Hafiz Hattian Bala Road in Jhelum Valley is closed due to landslides.

According to the SDMA, a vehicle stuck in the Ratti Gali Nallah was recovered. The Ratti Gali Road is closed at two or three places.

Two connection bridges were washed away due to flooding in the Lawat Nallah, three girls drowned at Galiat Tajwal near Nathiagali due to heavy rain, two of whom were rescued, while one girl drowned in the water.

Gilgit Baltistan Situation

Floods also wreaked havoc in the Khalti area of Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan and destroyed 6 houses. 5 people were swept away in the flood, of which the bodies of a woman and a girl were recovered.

The search for three people is ongoing. Floods in Chatturkhand and Dayan Nallah blocked the Ishkuman River, which was feared to burst, and residents of low-lying areas have been shifted to safer places.

Meanwhile, the only bridge in the last village of Siltro Goma, located at the foot of Siachen in the Gangchhe district of Baltistan, has been destroyed by the flood, which has cut off the village’s land connection with Baltistan.

The flood damaged hundreds of kanals of agricultural land and trees in Ghorse. Kazmi village has been evacuated, and all residents have been shifted to tent settlements.