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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An enormous landslide struck a key freeway in northwestern Pakistan close to the border city of Torkham earlier than daybreak Tuesday, burying two dozen vehicles and killing at the very least two folks, officers stated.
It was unclear how many individuals have been lacking and feared buried beneath the landslide.
Police official Ishrat Khan stated dozens of firefighters and rescuers have been making an attempt to avoid wasting truck drivers and different folks hit by the landslide close to the Afghan border. Officers stated the landslide was triggered by lightning amid rain.
At the very least one truck caught hearth when it was struck by lightning, rescuers stated.
The injured have been being transported to a close-by hospital, Khan added. Volunteers additionally joined the seek for survivors as authorities dispatched heavy equipment to Torkham to attempt to take away the large mudslide, Khan stated.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for a state-run rescue service, stated two our bodies have been pulled out and eight folks have been additionally injured.
“Rescuers are very cautious as a result of there’s a risk of one other landslide however they’re risking their lives to drag out these feared trapped,” he stated.
Torkham border crossing is a key commerce route between Pakistan and Afghanistan and a location the place landslides typically block highways, particularly in mountainous areas. Additionally it is a significant commerce route between Pakistan and Central Asian states.
Final summer time, devastating floods brought on by monsoon rains killed 1,739 folks in Pakistan.