Snow cuts off Upper Dir from rest of country

One killed, three injured in house collapse

UPPER DIR:

The fresh spell of snow, which started on Thursday in the mountainous districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), has left parts of Dir Upper completely cut off from the rest of the country.

An official of the district administration told The Express Tribune that the road leading to Lower Chitral district has been under several feet of snow. As a result, it has become impassable for vehicles.

“In Meena Khwar (nullah) area 11 vehicles have been left stranded from noon and till the afternoon no rescue team was able to reach them, leaving them on the mercy of weather,” said the official, adding that women and children were among the marooned.

When contacted Deputy Commissioner Akmal Khan said that National Highway Authority (NHA) was busy in clearing the road of snow and its teams will soon reach the vehicles.

He said that Pathrak, Tehsil Kalkot and Kumrat had been rendered completely cut off from the rest of the country.

The Lowari Tunnel Chitral Road remained completely closed due to heavy snow.

Officials said that minus two temperature has been recorded on Lowari Pass on Friday and it has also forced local residents to stay indoors.

House collapse

A child was killed and three others sustained injuries when a three-story building collapsed in the Makrala area of Dir Upper.

Due to bad weather, rescue workers faced difficulty in reaching the building and shifting the injured to the hospital.

Local residents, rescued the injured on self-help basis and shifted them to a local hospital for treatment.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2023.