Heavy snowfall, rain claim 35 lives in Pakistan

Avalanches and landslides triggered by heavy snowfall and incessant rain across Pakistan have left at least 35 people, including women and children, dead and dozens injured, a media report said on Tuesday.

The harsh weather conditions have created immense hardship for people across the country, with road transport and communication severely affected.

Avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents claimed at least 21 more lives and left scores of others injured on Monday, the Dawn newspaper reported.

A total of 11 people have reportedly died in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, seven in Punjab and three in Balochistan, it said.

Several others suffered injuries in rain-related incidents, mainly house collapse and road crashes amid poor visibility.

On Monday, the media reports said at least 14 people, including women and children, were killed and over a dozen injured in several parts of Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province.

Relief, disaster and civil defence secretary Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri said the heavy snowfall and rains have blocked several roads in high altitude areas.

Due to heavy snowfall on Khojak Top, the communication lines between Ziarat and Quetta have been severely affected. The Quetta-Chaman highway was also closed for traffic, he said.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Karakoram highway was closed due to landsliding in the Pattan area of Lower Kohistan, while Chitral district was cut-off from the rest of the province due to heavy snowfall, the report said.

Upper parts of the province — Malakand and Hazara divisions — received heavy snowfall, leading to the closure of main roads. Six people were injured and four houses collapsed in the rain-related incidents across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Intermittent rain caused flooding in low-lying areas of Sialkot, Gujrat and some other cities in the largest province of Punjab, the report said. PTI SH MRJ MRJ