Landslide at Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing, 7 killed

A landslide occurred at Torkham, the main border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan's Disaster Response Force has managed to recover the bodies of 7 people after the landslide that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, April 18.

Trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan largely depends on this border crossing. Cargo trucks, buses and people pass through this border 24 hours a day and night. Hundreds of trucks were queuing up to cross the crossing on the Pakistani side when the landslide occurred in the early hours of Tuesday. At least 20 of those trucks were buried under mud and rocks, disaster management spokesman Bilal Faizi told Pakistan's Geo News.

Some of the bodies recovered were truck drivers or helpers. The landslide occurred just 120 meters (about 380 feet) from the Torkham crossing. Many of the driver-helpers were busy with Seheri. They started running scared by this sudden accident.
Faizi told Geo News, 'How many people have died - it is not possible to say yet. It will be known if the soil-rock pile is moved. Hopefully, we have already removed 60 percent of the garbage.

The exact cause of this landslide is not yet known. However, officials of the Disaster Management Department feel that the mountains around the crossing are being cut for the past few months to make the crossing bigger. As a result of this, Tuesday's landslide occurred.

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