CDA, NDMA teams leave for landslide-hit Hunza

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday dispatched specialised teams to Hunza district for search, rescue and rehabilitation operations in Attaabad and Sarat villages, where a massive landslide destroyed around 20 houses and claimed 10 lives.

CDA Director General (Civic Management) Mustafain Kazmi said in a statement that the authority’s chairman, Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, had ordered dispatch of emergency and disaster management teams to Attaabad and Sarat to carry out search and rescue activities.

He said a team of 26 rescuers along with group and team leaders of specialised urban search and rescue component of the Emergency and Disaster Management directorate had left Islamabad’s aviation base for the calamity-hit area in a helicopter. He said the team whose members were trained in Finland had with it modern equipments, listening and detecting devices, and other gadgets.

Kazmi said next batch of rescuers along with canine search specialists would remain on a standby and would be sent to Hunza in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the NDMA said specialised teams sent by the authority had reached Attaabad and Sarat villages.

According to him, around 20 vacant houses of Attaabad skidded due to land sliding before falling over low-lying Sarat village. He said land sliding blocked River Hunza partially and Karakoram Highway completely.

The spokesperson said the number of causalities could not be ascertained due to inclement weather, and dust and debris in the affected villages. He, however, said death toll would not be high in view of the precautionary measures already taken by local authorities in line with the NDMA’s advice.