Rescuers end search for 11 missing tourists in GB

Rescuers in northern Pakistan on Monday called off a two-week search for at least 11 people swept away by flash floods last month, saying they are now presumed dead, a government spokesperson said.

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Their funeral prayers were held in absentia.

The victims were among 18 people who went missing in July while traveling from the city of Chilas to Skardu when their vehicles were carried away by floods triggered by heavier-than-normal rainfall, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) government. He said rescuers found the bodies of seven people from the debris along a highway that was badly damaged by the landslide. The highway has been reopened for traffic after the repair work, he said.