Photo taken on Jan. 14, 2020 by a mobile phone shows local residents gathering near houses hit by an avalanche in Neelum Valley in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Death toll of multiple avalanches in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has risen to 76 while 53 injured people are being treated in various hospitals of the area, an official of the disaster management authority in the region said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Stringer)
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Death toll of multiple avalanches in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has risen to 76 while 53 injured people are being treated in various hospitals of the area, an official of the disaster management authority in the region said on Wednesday.
A search operation is going on in the calamity-hit areas with the help of the Pakistani army, state-owned rescue organization Rescue 1122 and locals to recover the possible people in the rubbles of the houses buried by the avalanches, Saeed ur Rehman Qureshi told Xinhua.
He said that 84 houses were completely destroyed while 94 others got partially damaged in the avalanches which followed days of heavy rains and snow-fall in the whole region, particularly in the scenic resort of Neelum Valley where 73 people were killed in the aftermath of horrific avalanches.
Relief operation for the people who lost their houses in the natural disaster is underway, and in this connection the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is also cooperating with the disaster management authority in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and food packages and other humanitarian relief items have been handed over to 100 families in the region, said the official.
Talking to Xinhua, Saqib Mumtaz, media official of the NDMA said that 100 people have been killed and 90 others injured in separate rain and snow-related incidents across the country, with Pakistan-controlled Kashmir being worst hit with 76 fatalities, followed by the southwest Balochistan province where 20 people lost their lives in rain, while four others were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit-Baltistan areas.
The country's Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday to review the rescue and relief operation. During the visit, he was briefed about damages incurred due to snowfall and avalanches and the relief efforts undertaken.
He visited a hospital and enquired about the undergoing treatment for the injured.
Khan directed the relevant departments to provide emergency relief services to the affected people and make their best efforts to support the calamity-hit people.
