GILGIT: Heavy snowfall and rain continued to cause hardships for residents of Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday, leaving a large number of passengers, tourists, vehicles and cargo containers stranded at Khunjerab Pass on the Pakistan-Chinaborder.
Three containers reportedly skidded off the Karakoram Highway (KKH) after the road became slippery. Their drivers were rescued.
Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Tourism Naiknaam Karim was also among the stranded passengers and expressed concern over the lack of facilities and machinery to clear snow on the Pakistani side.
A GB police official told Dawn that snowfall was continuing at Khunjerab Top, leaving several vehicles and dozens of contain-ers carrying imported goods from China stranded for hours.
In a press release, the GB police spokesperson said heavy snowfall was continuing from Dhee Headquarters to Khunjerab Top, while accumulated snow had made the road hazardous for travel.
Tourists and travellers were advised to avoid unnecessaryjourneys and refrain from travelling towards Khunjerab until weather and road conditions improved. Stranded passengers complained that the government and relevant organisations had not started clearing the road for traffic.
The police spokesperson said a Chinese container had overturned after skidding on the snow-covered road. Local travellers andpersonnel of the Khunjerab Security Police launched a rescue operation and safely pulled the driver out of the vehicle.
He remained unhurt.
Motorists were advised to avoid unnecessary travel during heavy snowfall and contact the police helpline at 15 before setting out to obtain the latest information about road conditions.
The stranded passengers said the area, situated at an altitude of over 15,000 feet, posed additional difficulties because of the risk of oxygen shortage and other problems.
In a video message, Minister Naiknaam Karim said snowfall had also occurred on the Chinese side, but the road had been cleared for traffic.
‘However, after entering the Pakistani side, we found the road at Khunjerab Top covered with approximately four inches of snow and ice.
Several vehicles, including two to three cars, have skidded due to slippery road conditions,’ he said.
He regretted that the road had not been cleared and appealed to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to immediately deploy machinery to prevent further accidents.
Meanwhile, the GhizerShandur Road was completely blocked to all types of traffic following a landslide at Hopper Pari after heavy rain on Thursday night.-Jamil Nagri