Rescue operation continues in Khyber Pass on second day

Operation to clear the road of debris and take out all the containers buried under the land slide in the historic Khyber Pass continued for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

Talking to The Express Tribune an official of Rescue 1122 said that their search operation is still on as rescue workers are looking for survivors as well as dead bodies.

“So far 14 containers have been removed from the site but there is still a long way to go to clear the road,” he said, adding that the threat of another landslide was still there and because of it they were working very carefully.

On Tuesday, at least three people were killed and eight injured in a massive pre-dawn landslide that buried dozens of trucks waiting to cross from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

The landslide struck near the Torkham border post, the busiest and most important transit point for trade between the two countries, in the wee hours of Tuesday as more than 120 trucks were waiting to cross.

The rescuers feared more people could be trapped dead or alive beneath the rubble, and deployed sniffer dogs at the scene as workers cautiously used heavy earth-moving equipment to shift debris.

“We have recovered two bodies and have taken eight injured to hospital,” The Rescue 1122 emergency service said. In an update later it added that one more body was recovered from the rubble, raising the death toll to three.

The district administration said that the landslide occurred at 2 am during a thunder and lightning storm on the Torkham Export Road that straddled through the historical Khyber Pass, closing the border crossing for vehicles.

“Because of the landslide, 20 to 30 cargo vehicles and containers were buried under the debris,” Abdul Nasir, the deputy commissioner of Khyber district said. “Five containers also caught fire and burnt,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2023.