ISLAMABAD: At least nine members of a family were killed when an avalanche buried their house in northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as heavy snowfall blanketed several regions of the country.
Avalanches triggered by snowfall on Friday brought life to a standstill across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), blocking roads, stranding travellers and disrupting electricity and relief operations amid freezing temperatures, the Dawn newspaper reported.
An avalanche struck a house in Damil area in Serigal village in the extreme south of Chitral district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday afternoon.
Lower Chitral Deputy Commissioner Hashim Azim said the bodies were recovered from the debris, while a nine-year-old boy survived and was rushed to hospital.
Officials said the avalanche was triggered after the area received over 20 inches of snowfall, with a huge mass of snow sliding down from a nearby pasture and hitting the isolated house in the sparsely populated mountainous village.
The deceased were identified as Bacha Khan, his wife, three sons, two daughters and two daughters-in-law. They were reportedly dining in the central room of the house when the avalanche struck.
Snowfall continued uninterrupted for more than 36 hours across the Chitral valley, from Arandu to Broghil, severely disrupting daily life.
Vehicular traffic was suspended on several roads where thousands of passengers remained stranded for around 18 hours before traffic was restored on Friday evening after snow clearance.
Several roads in Upper and Lower Chitral remain closed due to heavy snowfall.
Electricity supply was also disrupted after snowfall at Lowari Top severed the national transmission line connecting Chitral.
Large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa received heavy rain and snowfall during the ongoing weather spell, resulting in road blockages, suspension of power supply and extreme cold.
The mountains surrounding the Peshawar valley also received heavy snowfall, triggering a cold wave accompanied by chilly winds.
In its Khyber district, a large number of displaced families returning from Tirah were stranded amid a snowstorm.
Rescue 1122 said an operation was underway in Tirah Valley, Painda Cheena, Dawatoi and Bagh Maidan.
Meanwhile, fresh snowfall across Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday further worsened conditions, triggering road blockages, power outages and extreme cold across the region.
In Chipurson valley of Gojal, upper Hunza, the situation of earthquake-affected families living in tents deteriorated as snowfall hampered relief activities.
Local residents said hundreds of families were facing severe shortages of food, medicine and heating facilities, with temperatures dropping to below minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Police said five to six inches of snow was recorded in the upper areas of Skardu, Astore, Ghanche, Shigar, Ghizer, Kharmang, Diamer, Hunza and Nagar.
Major roads, including the Karakoram Highway (KKH), Baltistan Highway and Ghizer-Shandur Road, were blocked at multiple locations due to heavy snowfall, avalanches and landslides.
Later, the Kohistan administration cleared parts of the KKH and arranged food and temporary accommodation for stranded passengers.
Authorities said heavy snowfall cut off several communities from road access, while prolonged power outages of over 20 hours were reported in upper areas, forcing residents to struggle for firewood and heating.
Heavy rain accompanied by a hailstorm lashed the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Friday, while 15 inches of snowfall was recorded in the Murree hill resort near Rawalpindi.
Heavy snowfall in Murree intensified the cold, with the temperature dropping to four degrees Celsius.
The Met Office said temperatures were likely to fall further in the coming days.
Owing to the snowfall, the Murree Expressway was closed.
Biting cold continued to grip Quetta, capital of Balochistan and several other districts of the province, severely disrupting daily life.
Residents of Quetta experienced the coldest night of the current winter season on Thursday as the mercury plunged to minus 13 degrees Celsius, while the absence of gas supply left households struggling to keep warm amid icy Siberian winds that blew throughout the night.
Temperatures dropped sharply, with Kalat recording minus 12 degrees Celsius and Ziarat minus 11 degrees, paralysing routine life in Quetta, Kalat, Ziarat and surrounding areas.
Normal life was severely affected, with people seen searching for gas cylinders to heat their homes as gas pressure remained extremely low.
Water supply through Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) tube wells was suspended after pipelines burst due to sub-zero temperatures and power outages in various parts of the provincial capital and its surrounding areas.
Roads and streets in Quetta wore a deserted look as most shops in commercial areas remained closed.
Traffic remained thin, with most vehicles off the roads.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority carried out a timely rescue operation near Muslim Bagh, safely evacuating 17 stranded people, including 14 women and children, who were trapped on a road due to severe weather conditions.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted more rain and snowfall in various parts of the country from Sunday night to Tuesday, with daytime temperatures likely to drop during the period.