Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Another avalanche at a border checkpost in the Chitral district resulted in the death of one soldier, with 6 other officers being injured on Sunday.

Avalanches had previously smashed into the village of Shershal in the Chitral district, killing nine people including four women and four children.

It hit eight homes at around 3:00 am, said Sheema Ayub Khan, a spokeswoman for the Disaster Management Authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The region has been hit by heavy snowfall that is four feet deep in some places.

Six people who had been trapped beneath the snow were rescued.

Shahab Hameed, a senior administration official in the area, confirmed the death toll, adding that most of the area’s roads had been blocked.

“We are trying to reopen the roads and help people,” he said.

Chitral District Mayor Maghfriat Shah said the city’s airport was shut because of the weather.

Another local official, Muhammad Ilyas, told media that the worst-hit areasin the region were facing medicine and food shortages because of road closures and flight cancellations.

The region’s electricity supply was also disrupted after the main transmission line was damaged.

In the Khyber tribal district, on the Afghan border in the northwest, three infant girls were killed and two women injured when the roof of their house collapsed in heavy rain, said local administration official Niaz Mohammed.

Severe weather hits Pakistan every year, with avalanches in winter and flash floods in summer.