Rescuers expand search in northern Pakistan for 12 missing tourists swept away by floods
"Rescuers are racing against time to trace and rescue the missing tourists,' Faraq said. He said engineers were working day and night to reopen the key Karakoram Highway to restore the movement of people, goods, and trade between Pakistan and China through the border region. Army helicopters were used this week to evacuate 300 tourists who had been stranded in remote areas because of the land sliding and flooding, and military planes were used to transport them to major cities.
Broken roads, scattered boulders and thick layers of mud highlight the destruction caused by a powerful flash flood that cut off the scenic north from the rest of the country. Footage on social media showed several vehicles remained stranded in debris along the highway, while tourists were seen walking along narrow mountain paths to reach safer areas.
Emergency crews have since Tuesday recovered the bodies of eight tourists and a resident whose vehicles were buried under the rubble while traveling to the scenic Chilas and Skardu districts in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Faraq said. The dead included three members from the same family who had traveled from various parts of the country, including the eastern Punjab province, he said. Gulbar Khan, the chief minister in Gilgit-Baltistan, told reporters Friday that efforts were underway to repair damaged roads.
He said tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan has taken a significant hit following the deaths and the closure of parts of the highway, which is a vital artery through the scenic region. Nasir Hussain, an official at the Gilgit-Baltistan Hotel and Restaurants Association, said this year's monsoon rains have wreaked havoc on the tourism industry. During the peak season from May to September, an estimated one million Pakistani and foreign tourists visit the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Hussian said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Hurricane Gil continues to churn far out in eastern Pacific
MEXICO CITY, Aug 2, (AP): Hurricane Gil was continuing to churn in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Saturday but is not expected to threaten land and is likely to decrease in strength rapidly over the weekend, forecasters said. The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 1,160 miles (1,865 kilometers) west-southwest of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. Gil had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 20 mph (31 kph). No coastal watches or warnings were in effect. "Weakening is forecast to begin Saturday, and Gil is likely to become post-tropical as early as Sunday," the NHC said. It is a busy period for storms in the eastern Pacific. Another named storm, Iona, which also was once a hurricane, was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression as it moved far to the west of Hawaii. It, too, was not threatening land. Other storms could develop in the coming days in the eastern Pacific, forecasters said.
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Boy, 13, dies after getting trapped in storm drain during East Coast flooding
MOUNT AIRY, Md, Aug 2, (AP): A 13-year-old boy died after he was trapped in a storm drain in Maryland during heavy rainfall and flooding on the East Coast that also led to rescues from cars that were submerged in floodwaters, officials said. Kids were playing in the rain Thursday in a common area between apartment buildings in Mount Airy, a town of about 10,000 people about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Baltimore, but floodwaters rushed in and the boy was swept into the pipe, according to Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company spokesperson Doug Alexander. People tried to rescue the boy, but the water pressure was too strong and kept pushing him further into the pipe, he said. After the rain slowed, they were able to free him, but it was too late, Alexander said. In Maryland's Washington, D.C. suburbs, first responders received a handful of calls about cars submerged in floodwaters Thursday afternoon. In one instance, firefighters in Montgomery County found an 8-year-old boy standing on top of a submerged SUV while a woman and toddler were trapped inside, officials said. All three were successfully brought to safety, said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Chief Daniel Ogren. More storms might bring flash and urban flooding to the northern mid-Atlantic and southern New England through Friday night, the National Weather Service warned. Parts of the Baltimore area received 2.5 to 4 inches (6 to 10 centimeters) Thursday, according to the weather service, but isolated areas received more, including 5 inches (nearly 13 centimeters) in Mount Airy and 6 inches (15 centimeters) in Joppatowne northeast of Baltimore, where people were rescued from flooded cars. A few areas in New York and New Jersey saw 3 inches (nearly 8 centimeters) or more of rain and one part of central Long Island reported more than 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the weather service. By Friday morning, subways and commuter rail routes in the New York area were running on normal schedules after some sections were inundated by floodwaters. The city's Department of Transportation also reported that roads and highways that had been shut down due to high water Thursday were reopened. A few dozen flights were delayed or canceled at major airports in the New York, Boston and Washington regions Friday morning, but most were running on time, according to the FlightAware tracking service.
Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupts again
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug 2, (AP): Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, erupted for a second straight day, sending a column of volcanic materials and ash up to 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky early Saturday and blanketing villages with debris. No casualties were immediately reported. Another eruption Friday evening had sent clouds of ash up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) high and had lit up the night sky with glowing lava and bolts of lightning. The two eruptions happened in a span of less than five hours. Indonesia's Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava traveling up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) down the slopes of the mountain. Drone observations showed deep movement of magma, setting off tremors that registered on seismic monitors. Volcanic material, including hot thumb-sized gravel, was thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater, covering nearby villages and towns with thick volcanic residue, the agency said. It asked residents to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano. Saturday's eruption was one of Indonesia's largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the country's most volatile volcano, erupted on the densely populated island of Java. That eruption killed more than 350 people and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate. It also came less than a month after a major eruption on July 7 forced the delay or cancelation of dozens of flights at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport, and covered roads and rice fields with thick, gray mud and rocks. Lewotobi Laki Laki, a 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano on the remote island of Flores, has been at the highest alert level since it erupted on June 18, and an exclusion zone has been doubled to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius as eruptions became more frequent. The Indonesian government has permanently relocated thousands of residents after a series of eruptions there killed nine people and destroyed thousands of homes in November. Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the "Ring of Fire,' a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
