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Pakistan Extreme Weather Death Toll at 83

Roshan Mughal

   MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR - Extreme weather in parts of
   Pakistan over the last three days has caused at least 83 deaths, while
   dozens of other people are injured and some are still missing.

   A spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, Brigadier
   Waseem ud Din, told VOA's Urdu Service most of the deaths have been
   reported in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir due to heavy snow that caused
   avalanches.

   Senior officials in Pakistani Kashmir said at least 62 people have died
   there, 39 of them in two avalanches. In Balochistan province, at least
   20 people have died due to heavy rains, while one person died in the
   Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

   In one dramatic cell phone video making rounds in local WhatsApp
   groups, men are seen shouting with excitement, "We found the man, we
   found the man." The video goes on to show people trying to dig a man
   out of snow as his foot is caught in something and wrapping a scarf
   around his head as he waits to be rescued.

   In another incident, an avalanche carried a girl down with it.

   "When we rescued her, she was still breathing slowly, but within five
   minutes of being rescued, she died," said a paramedic in the Neelum
   valley. He blamed the avalanches on deforestation.

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