Over 200 trapped tourists have been rescued in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer after flash floods triggered by heavy rain swept through the district, the local government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a landslide alert for various areas in GB, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
A day ago, at least four tourists were killed, two others injured, and 15 went missing due to the floods in Diamer’s Babusar area. The devastating impacts of climate change have become more visible in GB as cloudburst-induced floods wreaked havoc across the region.
Government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said in a statement, “More than 200 rescued tourists have been shifted to Chilas and provided shelter in hotels and guest houses.”
He added that the tourists were now able to contact their families after being stranded for hours.
The death toll since yesterday currently stands at five, according to Diamer District Commissioner Attaullah Kakar.
Kakar detailed that rescue operations were still underway to look for missing tourists, while four of the five deceased have been identified. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdul Hameed, 20 to 30 tourists from different parts of the country might be missing.
“The military is participating in the rescue operation and evacuating tourists to safer places,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Diamer administration declared a state of emergency along Thack-Babusar Road, suspending all tourist movement between Zero Point and Babusar Top.
A notification by Diamer District Magistrate Ataur Rehman, seen by media.com, said all travellers “should be stopped at both ends” of the road until further notice.
“All tourists and local residents are strongly advised to evacuate to designated safe zones immediately and to avoid any travel on Babusar Road until its complete rehabilitation,” the notification read.
An emergency control room was also established that will operate “round the clock”. It can be contacted at 05812-920181 and 05812-930037. The district magistrate also ordered six companies to dispatch at least two excavators each to the Babusar area to assist in road rehabilitation and retrieval of bodies, if any.
According to DC Kakar, the Force Command Northern Areas (FCNA) of the Pakistan Army has been providing medical assistance and food to stranded tourists on Babusar via helicopters.
“One of the five bodies will be transported via helicopter later today,” he added.
Muhammad Ali, a local social worker, told media.com: “Thirty vehicles were swept away by the floods, and most people have been rescued by the locals.”
The GB govt spokesperson told media.com: “Babusar road was still blocked due to heavy mud on the road, but authorities have been instructed to reach the area”.
Outlining the damage, Faraq said that “more than 50 houses have been damaged in the flood since yesterday”.
“In Babusar, a wheat depot, a girls’ school, a police checkpoint, a tourism police shelter and four bridges have been washed away, while two mosques and a windmill have also been damaged.”
Faraq shared that construction has begun on the restoration of highways and connecting roads, after the floods damaged a portion of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), leaving thousands of tourists and passengers stranded on both sides.
‘Hundreds’ of stranded tourists rescued in Skardu
Skardu Rescue 1122, in its WhatsApp channel, said three people were injured due to the flood in the Sadpara village, while the deluge has also hit the Kharmang district.
Ghulam Muhammad, spokesperson for the Baltistan Division Police Department, said in a statement: “In Deosai, 413 tourist vehicles were stranded on the road connecting Sadpara and Deosai, after it was closed at ten different points due to the floods.”
According to the spokesperson, the stranded people were rescued by the police and shifted to Skardu in the morning after the damaged roads were restored overnight.
width=”100%” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” style=”height:250px;position:relative”
src=”
sandbox=”allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms”>
He said, “Heavy rain in Skardu triggered flash floods in Barge Nullah, Dhagyol Nullah and Shagri Bala Nullah on the outskirts of the city.”
“The flood water entered homes and caused severe damage to public infrastructure and crops,” the official added.
NDMA issues landslide alert amid heavy rains
According to an NDMA advisory, the following areas in the country’s north may potentially face landsliding: Gilgit, Skardu, Hunza, Astore, Diamer, Ghanche in GB; Muzaffarabad, Neelum, Haveli, Bagh, Poonch in Azad Jammu and Kashmir; and Chitral, Dir, and Kohistan in KP.
In these areas, the following roads have been identified as prone to landsliding: Kohistan Road, Kolai Palas Road, Jaglot Road, Nagar Road, Hunza Road, Tatta Pani Road, Jaglot Skardu Road.
The NDMA advised citizens to avoid travelling to mountainous areas and directed authorities to remain alert in case of an emergency.
On June 26, the GB Disaster Management Authority issued a warning of increased risk of glacial lake outburst floods (Glof) and flash floods. The public and tourists were advised to avoid going near rivers, streams and other waterways, and avoid bathing or washing clothes in streams since the water flow can reach dangerous levels.
Two swept away in Rawalpindi’s DHA
Separately, rescue efforts were underway after a retired army officer and his daughter went missing after the car they were in was swept away by the rainwater drain in Rawalpindi, according to the police.
Retired Colonel Ishaq Qazi, aged approximately 62–64 years and a resident of Defence Housing Authority Phase 5, “left his home along with his daughter, aged around 25 years, in a grey Honda City vehicle”, said a statement by Islamabad’s Sihala police station.
“Due to heavy rainwater accumulation on a nearby road, their vehicle stalled. While Colonel Ishaq attempted to restart the car, the flow of water intensified, and both individuals were swept away by the rainwater drain,” it added.
A search operation by the police, Rescue 1122, DHA Phase 5 staff and a team of divers was underway, the statement said.
A video showed a man steering the vehicle in accumulated floodwater, with a person in the back waving their hand out. The car took a short, sharp slide downwards, after which it got swept away in the water, as some people gathered on a nearby bridge.
Rain-related death toll rises to 234
Monsoon rains, which fall across the region from June to September every year, continue to lash many parts of the country.
According to the NDMA’s website, monsoon rains since June 26 have killed 234 people across the country and injured 596. Of these, 13 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
A spokeswoman for the agency told AFP that the heavy rains usually start later in the monsoon season.
“Such death tolls are usually seen in August, but this year the impact has been markedly different,” she said.
The majority of casualties were recorded in Punjab, the country’s most populous province, with 135 deaths and 470 injuries. KP reported 56 fatalities, Sindh 24, Balochistan 16, two in Azad Kashmir and one death in Islamabad.
Over 61 per cent of nationwide deaths were caused by house-collapse incidents. Monsoon rains so far have damaged 826 houses and led to the deaths of 203 livestock.
American Dollar Exchange Rate