GILGIT, Feb 20: More than 700 passengers travelling between Rawalpindi and parts of the Northern Areas are reportedly stranded in Shitiyal and Barseen areas, where landslides and boulders caused by the snowfall and rains have blocked the Karakoram Highway (KKH) since Sunday.

The Frontier Works Organization would try to restore the traffic by Saturday, provided the weather did not disrupt the work, Northern Areas Home Secretary Saeed Ahmed Khan told Dawn.

Saeed Khan, who is also the information secretary of the Northern Areas, said he had directed the relevant departments to shelter the stranded passengers at the official rest houses and guest houses at Chilas and Kohistan. FWO sources said landslides had eroded the KKH in Diamer and Kohistan districts.— Correspondent