Death toll from Landi Kotal landslide rises to six

The death toll in Khyber Pass land sliding incident reached six on Friday as rescue workers found another body in the rubble.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a spokesperson of Rescue 1122 said that the rescue operation continued on the fourth consecutive day in Khyber Pass where more land sliding was experienced but still their teams was able to take out 25 containers.

“Another body has been found which has pushed up the death toll to six in the incident including eight injured,” he said, adding that the operation will continue till all buried containers are recovered.

Background

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.

“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.

Nasir said that two of the dead were Afghan citizens.

He added that those injured in the incident were being shifted to the hospital in Landi Kotal. “A rescue operation is under way,” he added.

“The casualties and the material losses could be accurately estimated after removal of the debris,” the deputy commissioner said, indicating that the death toll could rise.