Rescue operations ends as teams retrieve bodies of Karakoram landslide victims

KOHISTAN: The rescues operation into a tragic incident of land sliding at Karakoram Highway that claimed nine lives has been completed, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

“The rescue teams recovered all nine bodies of labourers from the debris through use of heavy machinery”, the District Police Officer said.

The bodies were shifted to a nearby medical facility, from where they were handed over to the heirs.

The deceased are local labourers, who were working on the expansion of the Karakoram Highway, the DPO continued.

He further said that the efforts are underway for the reopening of the highway as soon as possible.

The land slide buried a van that was carrying nine labourers, last night at the Karakoram Highway in Upper Kohistan.

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.