Glacial fury in PoK: floods sever Karakoram highway, landslide kills nine

A sudden outburst from Shishper glacier tore through Gilgit-Baltistan, severing a key road to China and leaving thousands without water, as a separate landslide buried nine volunteers.

Peshawar: Nine volunteers were killed and three others injured when a landslide buried them during restoration of a flood-damaged water channel in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit region, officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday night in Danyor Nullah when a mass of earth collapsed on the workers, trapping several under the debris, police said.

An emergency was declared in local hospitals as rescue operations were launched with the help of residents.

Hospital authorities confirmed nine deaths and warned that more people could be trapped. The injured were receiving treatment, they said.

In a separate incident, flash floods in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir triggered by a glacial lake outburst from the Shishper Glacier last Friday swept away a section of the Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan with China.

The floods destroyed protective walls, damaged farmland, and put more than 50 homes at risk, reported the Dawn newspaper.

Officials said it was the most severe flooding in Hassanabad Nullah since 2018, damaging irrigation and drinking water channels to Aliabad and nearby villages and cutting off the main road link for much of Hunza’s population.

The volume of the "flood was the highest in the Nullah since 2018,” said Zubair Ahmed Khan, assistant director of the Gilgit-Bal­t­istan Disaster Mana­ge­ment Authority (GBDMA) for Hunza and Nagar.

Floods also hit other parts of the region, blocking the Hoper Valley road in Nagar Khas, destroying a bridge in Tokorkot village, and damaging the only access road and embankments in Shimshal Valley.

The restoration of irrigation and water supply systems was stalled, leaving thousands without drinking water in some areas.

Experts have warned that repeated heatwaves and record temperatures this year have accelerated glacier melt, increasing the frequency of such outbursts in the region.