A worker with the Water Resources & Power Development Authority was killed by a rock from a landslide while installing an electricity pole in the Gumbad Maira area of Mingora City in the Swat Valley of northwest Pakistan on Monday 29 July 2013. The man has been named as Fazal Akbar, a senior linesman with the authority, from Bara Bandai. He was taken to the Saidu Teaching Hospital but declared dead on arrival.
Fazal Akbar, a senior linesman with the Water Resources & Power Development Authority, who was killed by a rockfall on Monday 29 July 2013. Zama Swat.
The Swat Valley, along with other areas of northern Pakistan, has suffered a series of flash floods, and landslides, which have destroyed a number of homes as well as uprooting many electricity poles in the area, leading to a running battle by workers to keep power supplies running. There has been rainfall in the area, but the flood events are largely associated with melting snow and glaciers higher in the mountains, a problem that is becoming worse due to rising global temperatures. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids.
The approximate location of the 29 July 2013 Mingora landslide. Google Maps.
See also Two workers killed in landslide near Attabad Lake, Gilgit-Baltistan, Six people killed by landslide in Nainital District, Uttarakhand, Seven killed by landslide in Uttarakhand, Two teenage girls killed by landslide in Jammu and Kashmir and Woman killed in landslide in Jammu and Kashmir.
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