Overview
- Inter-Services Public Relations said the slide hit around 2:00am on January 3 during a heavy‑machinery effort to restore access through Gilgit‑Baltistan’s Burzil Pass.
- Four people were entrapped and recovered after intensive rescue work, but Captain Asmad, 28, Sepoy Rizwan, 32, and PWD machine operator Essa later succumbed.
- ISPR identified the fallen as hailing from Lahore (Asmad), Attock (Rizwan) and Astore (Essa), noting they were leading operations in severe winter conditions.
- Rescue teams operated under extreme weather to locate and extract the trapped personnel from beneath the snow.
- President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued tributes and condolences following the incident.