A massive landslide caused by shearing off a mountain, devastated Attabad Village in the beautiful Hunza valley, Pakistan, on Monday. The dead bodies of 13 people, mostly women and children, have been recovered from the debris of boulders and clay however several people are still missing. The disaster has fully destroyed over 40 houses, a community centre, a school, a dispensary, a number of cattle pens, trees and orchards. About 213 families, including 1673 men, women and children, have been evacuated from Attabad and the adjacent hamlets of Sarat and Salmanabad and temporarily settled in four school camps and host families. Boulders and debris rolling down the slope blocked the water flow in Hunza River and formed a lake threatening a number of low-lying villages in Gojal, upper Hunza. About 6000 people living in Shishkat, Ayeenabad and Gulmit along the banks of the Hunza River could be affected by the formation of any larger lake. Various other villages downstream the Hunza River are also in danger of being flooded, if the lake breaks, which could affect another 18000 people. The landslide damaged a two-kilometre stretch of the Karakoram Highway, the main road between Pakistan and China, and a bridge in the Hunza Valley. The scarcity of food, medicines and fuel is becoming a real threat for the lives of the 25000 inhabitants of Upper-Hunza, the largest tehsil of Hunza-Nagar district in Gilgit-Baltistan.
