Two children killed, nine missing in Chitral landslide

CHITRAL: A landslide hit a village on Saturday, killing two school children and trapping many others as heavy rains and snowfall continued to lash parts of northern Pakistan.

Bodies of two children were found  buried under a landslide, while nine more are believed trapped underneath the snow and rubble.

The incident took place on Saturday afternoon near the village of Susom, some 40 kilometres north of the town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police station chief Sultan Baig said.

According to reports, worried parents and authorities began searching for the ninth graders when they did not return from school. "The chances of finding any survivors are very low," said local administration official Mohammad Ali. "But you never know. People have been found alive buried under snow for nearly 20 hours."

According to the provincial disaster management authority, heavy machinery was not being used to remove the snow due to fears of further land-sliding.
Separtely, at least five people were killed after heavy rains caused roofs of multiple houses to collapse in Faisalabad and Charsadda.