Over 150 tourists stranded in Kumrat valley rescued

DIR/MANSEHRA: The district administration in Upper Dir rescued over 150 tourists stranded in Kumrat valley for three days.

The rehabilitation of roads blocked due to floods was started with heavy machinery.

Lightning had struck Kumrat during heavy rains, causing flash floods that washed away residential houses, roads, and bridges, trapping hundreds of tourists.

To rescue the tourists safely, Deputy Commissioner Naveed Akbar ordered Assistant Commissioner Sheringal Bilal Nasir to take action. Naveed Akbar also visited the flood-affected area in Barikot and directed the Communication and Works and Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority officials to restore the roads.

Director Kumrat Development Authority and Assistant Commissioner Bilal Nasir accommodated the stranded tourists in a hotel.

On Saturday morning, 150 to 200 tourists were safely evacuated from Kumrat to Thal, from where they were sent to Dir via Badgoi and Barikot. Many tourists were sent from Thal Bazaar to Badgoi, while the rest were sent to Dir. Earlier, work was started on restoring the road at Barikot using heavy machinery to resume traffic between Barikot and Thal. The C&W and PKHA authorities were working to restore the damaged roads.

Meanwhile, an official handout said the tourists stranded in Kumrat Valley due to recent rains and floods were rescued. The rescue operation was carried out with the cooperation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority’s Tourism Police, Rescue teams, and the local administration.

All tourists stranded in Dujanga, Kala Chashma and the Waterfall areas of Kumrat Valley were rescued by the Tourism Police and taken to a hotel. The tourists will be transported to respective destinations via Badgai Top route through Kalam after the completion of rescue operation.

Meanwhile, thousands of tourists, including foreigners left for respective destinations across the country following Frontier Works Organisation completed repair and uplifting of the steel bridge installed at the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road in the Mahandri area in Kaghan valley.

“The traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, which was suspended following the central bridge dislocated during flash floods earlier this week resumed after FWO machines repaired, and uplifted it,” Shakeel Jani, a resident told reporters. The entry of all sorts of vehicles was restricted through a steel bridge built at Manor Stream after cracks developed and was dislocated from its station during flash floods earlier in Manor Stream. The long queues of vehicles, mostly carrying tourists, were stranded on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road. The traffic was allowed to cross the bridge after its height was lifted a little to avoid mishaps.

Eight foreigners who were stranded in the Naran since district administration restricted mobility of vehicles between KP and GB via that steel bridge in Mahandri also left for Islamabad where they would move to Portugal.