Islamabad, Aug 11 (IANS) As many as seven local volunteers were killed and seven others injured after a massive landslide hit individuals who were working to restore the flood-damaged water channel in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) region, officials said on Monday.
All the seven injured people were taken to nearby hospitals, where emergency services were activated to manage the crisis. The volunteers were reportedly working to repair Danyor Nullah which had been damaged due to recent floods in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit when a sudden mudslide buried them under the rubble.
Police said four people were brought out from the debris in critical condition during the rescue operation, Pakistan’s leading news channel Geo News reported. PoGB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that the search and rescue operation had been completed.
Monsoons rains have wreaked havoc across Pakistan, with floods and landslides claiming lives of over 260 people. Several people are still missing along with massive damage to the infrastructure.
Last month, PoGB’s local leader Gulbar Khan said that at least 10 people were killed and four others were injured in the region in floods caused by monsoon rains. In addition, infrastructure worth over Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 20 billion was damaged in the floods.
He said that 300 houses were destroyed while 200 were partially damaged. Furthermore, 30-40 per cent of water channels and 15 to 20 kilometres of roads were damaged. While addressing a press conference, Khan said that the floods had a major impact on seven districts of the region, destroying roads, water channels, homes and agricultural land, Pakistan’s The News International reported.
He stated that the limited resources are “insufficient to recover from the scale of this disaster” and requested the Pakistani government to provide assistance. The leader mentioned that they have requested the federal government to provide PKR seven billion for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.
–IANS
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