Chitral: Search for students buried under avalanche continues on eighth day
The teams are digging in the snow with spades and shovels to find the victims.
CHITRAL (Dunya News/AFP) – Rescue operation for the search of students entrapped under avalanche in Chitral has continued on eighth day, reported on Saturday.
Chances of survival were fading for seven people feared buried under an avalanche. The disaster struck on March19 afternoon near the village of Susom, some 40 kilometres (24 miles) north of the town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
A massive avalanche fell on a group of school children returning home after exams. Two bodies those of a school boy and a local man were pulled from the snow on Sunday, while rescuers have not been able to find seven pupils who remain missing.
"A pupil and a passer’s by bodies have been found so far and we have now no hope of finding any survivor among the seven people who are still buried under the avalanche," local government official Mazhar Ali Shah told AFP.
The personnel of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) special team, Chitral Scouts, police, Levies and residents are participating in rescue process.
The teams are digging in the snow with spades and shovels to find the victims.
Earlier, General Officer Commanding (GCO) Malakand reached the spot and pledged to give radar and heavy machinery.
On the other hand, heavy rains have killed at least 121 people, injured 124 and damaged 852 houses since March 9 across Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. It said landslides and collapsed roofs caused most of the fatalities.
