Islamabad:
At least 36 people were killed and 30 others were missing after an avalanche hit a remote hamlet in a mountainous region in northwest Pakistan, police said on Thursday.
The avalanche buried dozens of homes in the hamlet in Kohistan district of North West Frontier Province, 200 km from the federal capital.
The incident occurred early this morning, officials said. Police and civil administration officials said 19 bodies had been retrieved from the snow by local residents and the rescue operation was continuing.
Several women and children were among the dead, they said. District police chief Muhammad Ilyas said authorities had been requested to send a helicopter and heavy machinery for the rescue operation.
Key roads had been blocked by landslides and several feet of snow, officials said. Officials said the avalanche occurred after heavy rain and persistent snowfall in the rugged and hilly areas of Kohistan district.
The site where the incident occurred is remote and the hilly terrain is impeding rescue efforts, they said.
The Kohistan district is covered by snow for most of the winter. Parts of northern and northwestern Pakistan have witnessed heavy snowfall over the past few weeks, increasing
the chances of avalanches.
Another avalanche in the nearby Chitral region had killed seven people on Monday.