At least 23 people were killed and several others are missing after a cloudburst caused flash flood in the Neelum Valley of the Pakistan administered Kashmir, officials said.
A large number of homes in the Laswa area of the Valley weredamaged and dozens of people were swept away in the flooding caused byrelentless rainfall after the cloudburst over night.
“The Laswa area of the valley was badly hit where manyhouse were swept away. There were also reports of landsliding in some areas. Atotal of 23 people have been killed,” Syed Al-Rehman Qureshi, Director ofOperations, State Disaster Management Authority, said.
He said several people, including women and children, arestill missing.
Landslides were also reported in the area and officials saidmany structures in the Laswa’s main market, including two mosques, werecompletely destroyed.
Traffic flow in the area has been severely disrupted, whilecell phone and internet services are also affected.
Teams including officials from the district administration,disaster management authority and local police are conducting rescue operationsin the area.
Last week, a flood hit several villages in Golen Gol area ofChitral district after a glacial lake burst its banks overnight, topplingelectricity poles and inundating roads and farmlands, the Express Tribunereported.The glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) occurredafter the Jam Ashpar glacier – a popular tourist destination in Chitral –exploded overnight, it said.