Massive mudslide kills 7 volunteers repairing flood damage in northern Pakistan

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Massive mudslide kills 7 volunteers repairing flood damage in northern Pakistan

2025-08-11 16:32 Last Updated At：16:40

GILGIT, Pakistan (AP) — A massive mudslide early Monday killed seven volunteers as they repaired a drainage channel damaged by flash floods in northern Pakistan, officials said, leaving three others injured.

Rescuers recovered the bodies after the mudslide hit the town of Danyor in Gilgit-Baltistan at dawn and transported the injured to a hospital, said Faizullah Faraq, a regional government spokesperson.

This came a day after a flash flood triggered by a glacial lake outburst damaged the key Karakoram Highway, which passes through Danyor, disrupting traffic and trade between Pakistan and China. Engineers and workers were deployed along with heavy machinery to start repairs, Faraq said Monday.

Meanwhile, several landslides near the damaged mountainous highway left homes damaged in Danyor and nearby areas as first responders evacuated those affected by the floods to safer areas, said Hassan Ali, a local police chief, adding that essential foods were being provided to those displaced.

Sunday’s glacial lake outburst was huge, Ali said, swelling the Hunza river and triggering flash flooding that battered crops. Authorities were still assessing the damage, he said.

The region's Chief Minister Gulbar Khan called the seven who died “heroes who sacrificed their lives for the community” in a statement Monday.

Gilgit-Baltistan is known for its scenic glaciers that provide 75% of the country’s stored water supply, according to the region's official website. Last month, it was hit by landslides, killing 18 tourists when flash floods swept away their vehicles.

Experts say glacial lake outburst floods occur when water dammed by a glacier is suddenly released, often because ice or debris barriers collapse. Scientists say rising temperatures linked to climate change are accelerating glacier melt in Pakistan’s northern mountains, increasing both the size and number of these lakes.

A study released last week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier because of global warming. Pakistan produces less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gases, but research shows it suffers disproportionately from extreme weather.

In 2022, its worst monsoon season on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.

Rains and floods since June 26 have killed more than 300 people across Pakistan.

A South Korean court sentences Yoon to 5 years in prison on charges related to martial law decree

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.