MANSEHRA: Hundreds of passengers, truckers and motorists, who remained stranded for three days due to landslides on Karakoram Highway in Lower Kohistan, left for their destinations on Thursday after clearance of the road.

“KKH, which had been blocked due to heavy landslide at various points earlier this week, has now been cleared after removal of heavy boulders and mudslides. Passengers, motorists and truckers are now on way to their respective destinations in neighbouring Gilgit-Baltistan, different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and rest of the country,” Zafar Ahmad Khan, the district police officer of Lower Kohistan, told journalists.

The Lower Kohistan police, along with district administration and Rescue 1122, had launched operation earlier this week to clear the blocked points of KKH after mudslide and flood brought huge boulders onto the highway, blocking traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

At least three people, including two women, were killed and several others sustained critical injuries in different rain-related incidents. Landslide and mudslide brought massive boulders onto KKH during the past three days, triggering fear among travellers as well as local communities in rain-hit Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas districts.

EDUCATION: Local government representatives on Thursday demanded of Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation to revoke its notification about ending education support scheme, saying thousands of schoolchildren would be affected by it.

“More than 200 students receiving education under this support initiative will be deprived of education in our village council alone and the figure exceeds 10,000 across the province,” Basharat Ali Swati, chairman of Safada village council, told journalists.

Flanked by a group of local government representatives, he said that the foundation had already ended its contracts with partner middle and high schools in March. “Now the foundation is also going to terminate its agreements with higher secondary schools by May 30. IT will increase the number of affected students to around 10,000 across the province,” he said.

He said that the scheme was launched in 2021. “Among others, 81 private sector schools are part of the programme, which is now suddenly being wrapped up,” he added.

Mr Swati said that closure of the programme would also deprive hundreds of teachers, appointed under the programme, of their jobs.

REST HOUSE GUTTED: A rest house building of the communication and works department was reduced to ashes after a massive fire ripped through the multi-room structure in Pattan, the district headquarters of Lower Kohistan, in the early hours of Thursday.

The fire which, according to locals, broke out allegedly due to an electric short circuit, engulfed the entire building, gutting it completely. Furniture and other items kept inside the rest house were reduced to ashes.

Firefighters, along with fire tenders, rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze after hectic efforts lasting over an hour.

“If the fire had not been brought under control, it might have spread to nearby official buildings,” one of the rescuers said.

The deputy commissioner of Lower Kohistan, Tariq Mehmood, who lives near the rest house, also rushed to the scene and supervised the rescue activities.

According to Rescue 1122, no loss of life was reported as the people staying there had already evacuated the building. Local sources said that a team of the Anti-Corruption Establishment department was also residing at the rest house, but had left it before the fire started.

The SHO of Pattan police also cited an electric short circuit as the apparent cause of the fire.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2026