Eight killed in land sliding at Karakoram Highway

KOHISTAN: At least eight people were killed in land sliding at Karakoram Highway in Dasu area of Upper Kohistan District, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The rescue teams retrieved bodies from under debris using heavy machinery and moved them to nearby hospital. SHO Dasu Nasir-ud-Din Babar, the land slide buried the van that was carrying nine people.

All of the deceased persons were labourers by profession.

SHO Dasu said that the ongoing expansion work at the Karakoram Highway caused land sliding, resulting deaths of the people.

Assistant Commissioner Amin said it was feared that another three to four people could be trapped under debris. ‘We are searching for them,’ he added.

https://arynews.tv/en/daring-death-roads-pakistan-northern-mountains/

Landsliding risk in the country remains significantly high in the hilly terrain due to soil erosion partially as a result of heavy snowfall and frequent rains. Landsliding destroys homes, claims people’s lives, while the amount of damage is sometimes quite serious in nature.

A few months ago, three young brothers were killed and their father and another brother injured during a landsliding incident in Balochistan’s Zhob district.

The incident happened at a hilly tourist spot Silyazzai, where the ill-fated family of Rahmatullah Safi had come to enjoy holidays.

Read: In Pakistan, a high mountain water pipe brings peace with water

In December last year, the government had opened first of three tourism corridors, Azad Pattan-Rawalakot Highway, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The new highway links Poonch, Haveli and Kotli.

Bio remediation methods were employed for the first time during the construction process in order to protect the road from landslides.