Rain-triggered landslides, avalanches kill 9 in Pakistan

Rain-triggered landslides, avalanches kill 9 in Pakistan

2012-03-22 11:11:55 GMT+7 (ICT)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (BNO NEWS) -- At least nine people were killed on Tuesday when rain-triggered landslides and avalanches buried a number of homes in northern Pakistan, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

One incident happened on early Tuesday morning in the village of Qurqulti, located in the Ghizner Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan, when heavy rain triggered a landslide and buried nearly a dozen homes. At least three people were killed.

An official with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society told the Express Tribune newspaper that local authorities had warned residents to relocate because of the threat of heavy rainfall. However, some residents ignored the warnings and were caught by the landslide.

In a separate incident, at around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday, an avalanche struck the village of Waht, about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from Garam Chashma, the headquarters of Lotkuh tehsil in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Local police officials told the newspaper that at least five women were killed in the avalanche. All of them were from the same family and were identified as Rashida Bibi, her three daughters, Syeda, Zarina and Naiba and another member of the family named Shaihda.

A second avalanche happened in the Tau area of Mastuj Tehsil in upper Chitral, destroying a bridge and several roads but causing no casualties.

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