https://arab.news/r88ga
- Slope collapse hit Havelian town amid ongoing monsoon season, rescue service says
- Landslides frequently strike Pakistan’s hilly regions during heavy seasonal rains
PESHAWAR: A landslide killed at least two people and injured three others in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, rescue officials said, as authorities warned of continued slope collapses during the monsoon season.
The incident took place in Havelian town in Abbottabad district, according to Rescue 1122, which said emergency teams had transported the victims to a nearby hospital.
“Two people died on the spot and three were injured in the landslide,” the agency said in a statement. “The bodies of the deceased and the injured are being shifted to Civil Hospital Havelian.”
Rescue services said the cause of the landslide had not yet been determined.
Landslides are a recurring hazard in Pakistan’s mountainous regions, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, where heavy monsoon rains, deforestation and fragile soil conditions often trigger slope failures.
In July, more than eight vehicles were swept away when heavy rains caused a landslide on a highway in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, damaging bridges, a hotel and a school and knocking out communications. Tourist buses were stranded on roadsides as families waited for food and evacuation.
This year’s monsoon season has killed at least 1,006 people and injured 1,063 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Pakistan, which produces less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, has suffered disproportionately from extreme weather in recent years. In 2022, torrential monsoon rains killed more than 1,700 people and caused over $30 billion in damage.