Floods in Upper Kohistan

MANSEHRA: The administration of Upper Kohistan on Saturday reopened the Karakoram Highway (KKH) with the support of the Frontier Works Organisation, restoring traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

“The Karakoram Highway, which was blocked to traffic after heavy landslides at three places, was cleared to traffic and damage survey was in progress in the affected parts of the district,”Arif Yousufzai, the deputy commissioner Upper Kohistan, told reporters. The Frontiers Works Organisation removed the boulders from KKH at Shatial, Harban and other areas, he said, adding, the passengers stranded on both sides of the artery left for their respective destinations. Meanwhile, the search for the bodies of the four members of a family, who were swept away by flood in Lachi Nullah in Sazeen village, continued on Saturday.

According to officials, the seven members of the family had drowned in the Nullah and bodies of three of them, including a woman and her two daughters, were recovered. The search for her another daughter Saima Bibi and cousins Noor Jehan and Mustanab was still underway in Lachi Nullah. The officials said the joint teams of Revenue Department and Communication and Works department were carrying out the damages survey in Sazeen and Harban.

The administration also distrusted food items and relief goods, including tents and quilts, among the families displaced because of the floods and landslides in the affected parts of the district.