ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday directed to provide two helicopters to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to help douse the wildfires that have been raging in five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for over 24 hours.
In a tweet, Sharif said the choppers were being immediately sent to the district at the request of the agency. “The full aerial support will boost the efforts of Rescue 1122, district administration & forest department to extinguish the fire,” he said.
PM Shehbaz Sharif has immediately ordered the deployment of two helicopters on the request of NDMA to help put out the fire in the Swat area. The full aerial support will boost the efforts of Rescue 1122, district administration & forest department to extinguish the fire.
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PakPMO) June 5, 2022
At the request of the local administration, Sharif also directed that air support be provided immediately to control the fire in the Babuzai area.
According to rescue officials and locals, the wildfires broke out in different areas of districts Shangla, Haripur, Swat, Lower Dir and Mohmand on Saturday.
The wildfire — the second that the country has suffered in less than two weeks — engulfed large swathes of forestland in the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Footage aired on broadcasters showing giant flames sweeping through the grass and trees as firefighters and local volunteers endeavoured to put the fire out.
More teams are being sent to the site as firefighters are struggling to douse the flames due to the mountainous terrain of the affected area, said Shangla Deputy Commissioner Zia ur-Rehman.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire. However, Amanullah Khan, head of the district’s disaster management body, told reporters that several wildfires in recent years were the result of careless picnickers and locals who set bushes alight for cooking of other purposes.
A huge wildfire reportedly erupted after a group of picnickers set bushes on fire, decimating a pine nut forest in Balochistan late last month and killing three people.
