Out of the freezer, into the slammer

Army personnel rescue 27 passengers stuck in a boat in the middle of the frozen Attabad lake.

GILGIT: Army personnel rescued 27 passengers stuck in a boat in the middle of the frozen Attabad Lake late on Sunday, government officials said on Monday.

“All the stranded people have been rescued and shifted to Shishkat Village. They are safe and sound,” Hunza Assistant Commissioner Momin Jan told The Express Tribune by phone.

He said that the boat, loaded with goods imported from China left Shishkat at 4pm for Hunza when it got stuck between the heavy sheets of ice.

“We sent in a raft and some small boats under the supervision of an army colonel to rescue them,” said Jan, adding that the officer and his troops completed the mission by 11:30pm. He said that the rescue team managed to get to them by breaking the ice through the lake.

Asadullah, a resident of Hunza said “Reports about the incident sent a wave of fear among the people as fading light coupled with freezing temperatures made conditions dangerous for volunteers and victims alike,” said Asadullah, a resident of Hunza. However, we heaved a sigh of relief as news of the rescue operation’s success spread late at night, he said.

Hunza-Nagar District Administration banned movement over the lake to avoid exactly such a situation after the lake froze due to plummeting temperature in the valley. Police checkposts had also been set up on either side of the lake to prevent people from trying to cross the lake.

Momin Jan said that the same boat was stopped at Shishkat some days ago, but passengers on Sunday forced its operator to cross the lake. “It was a clear violation of law and we have asked the police to register a case against the boat operator and passengers,” he said, adding that the government will reinforce police presence to avoid such incidents in future.

The 23-km lake was formed when the debris of a massive landslide that struck Attabad village on Januray 4, 2010, blocked the Hunza River. The lake submerged four villages upstream in Gojal valley.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2011.