Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: So far three dead bodies and four injured persons have been confirmed and at least thirty heavy vehicles and their crew members are feared to be buried alive under the landslide debris Torkham border officials said on Tuesday.
Deputy Commissioner of Khyber Abdul Nasir Khan said all of a sudden land slid from the Torkham hills where dozens of vehicles bound for Afghanistan with imported items were waiting to cross the border. He said around twenty to thirty long vehicles along with their drivers and cleaners feared being buried alive in the debris of a landslide.
Assistant commissioner of Landikotal Irshad Ali Mohmand told Fata Voice News Agency that three dead bodies and four injured persons have so far been retrieved from the debris. He said heavy machinery and rescue workers of the Pakistan Army, Rescue 1122, Peshawar Development Authority, firefighters, and other volunteers have started a rescue operation to rescue the trapped persons from the trucks buried in landslide debris.
He said the injured and dead bodies were shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Landikotal.
Assistant Commissioner Irshad Ali Mohmand, who monitors the rescue operation, said hectic efforts were underway with the heavy machinery to possibly retrieve the trapped persons. He said they had no idea how many people had been trapped under the debris. However, he said hundreds of volunteers with the support of heavy machinery were busy round the clock to save lives.
Meanwhile, an emergency was declared in the Landikotal hospitals, where health staff were directed to stand by.
Customs official Tamash Khan said some of the trapped persons contacted them through mobile phones and their voices could be heard asking for help. He said a number of people were still alive under the huge debris. He said rescue workers were trying their level best to recover them alive.
Eyewitnesses told this scribe that a big portion of the hill slipped down with a big bang early Tuesday morning. They said trucks were parked on the road near the hills that slide over them.
Traders said billions of rupees worth of Afghanistan-bound consignments, including cement, construction materials, and food items, were destroyed in the landslide incident. Officials said they were operating the rescue work with great care to recover people alive. They said the rescue work would take days.
Rescue work was underway until I filed this report.
