Recently flood and harsh winter weather have killed more than 130 people across Pakistan and Afghanistan, leaving others stranded by heavy snowfall.
At least 93 people died and 76 were injured across Pakistan, with several still missing while a further 39 were killed in Afghanistan, according to officials in both countries.
Across the border in Afghanistan, more than 300 houses were either destroyed or partially damaged throughout the country, said Ahmad Tamim Azimi, a spokesman for the natural disaster management authority.
Pakistani Kashmir was the worst-hit area, with 62 people killed and 10 others missing, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall killed at least 12 people, including six soldiers.
In Kashmir’s Neelum Valley, heavy snowfall triggered several avalanches, including one that killed at least 19 people, “An avalanche hit their village, 10 people are still missing,” the disaster authority said.
Authorities have shuttered schools, while several highways and roads were closed across the country’s mountainous northern areas.
“The severe snowfalls and landslides in AJK have caused misery & deaths,” tweeted Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, referring to the part of Kashmir controlled by Islamabad.
“Most of those who died were women and children,” said Mohammad Younus, an official with the provincial disaster management authority, adding that hundreds remained stranded.
>Juthy Saha
