Avalanche claims 9 lives in Pakistan’s Chitral District
An avalanche claimed nine lives and injured a 9-year-old child of the same family in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, January 23, 2026.
A family of nine was killed by an avalanche that struck their home in Serigal village in the Damil area on Friday. A child was also injured in the incident and rushed to the hospital.
Rescue teams from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Pakistan Army reached the site after several hours of difficult access due to blocked mountain roads. One child was recovered alive and taken to a local medical facility with injuries. The bodies of the nine victims were later retrieved from the debris.
Heavy snow over the last few days caused widespread disruptions across northern Pakistan, with several roads being closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan regions. The Pakistan Meteorological Department warned that further snowfall was likely between January 24 and 27, increasing the risk of avalanches and landslides.
In Murree, approximately 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Islamabad, authorities closed access roads to prevent vehicles from getting stranded. The Islamabad district administration and PDMA instructed travelers to avoid mountain routes and mobilized machinery to clear accumulated snow from key highways.
References:
1 Avalanche kills 9 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – PTI – January 23, 2026
2 Nine killed, one child injured as avalanche strikes house in northwestern Pakistan – Ilkha – January 23, 2026
Featured image credit: Dawn News
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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