SWAT (GNP): One person remains missing, and six others were injured after a glacier burst in Kalam Valley in Upper Swat, Rescue 1122 said on Saturday, as search teams continued efforts to locate the missing man.
The incident occurred in Kalam’s Matiltan area a couple of days earlier but only came to light once survivors made their way back to the main Kalam bazaar and reported it. The missing man was identified as Syed Ali Shah, a resident of Khwazakhela. His companions believe he did not survive, though his body has not yet been recovered.
Of the six injured, three received first aid from a Rescue 1122 medical team before being shifted from Kalam Tehsil Headquarters Hospital to Central Hospital in Saidu Sharif for further treatment. The remaining three sustained minor injuries and were reported to be in safe condition. Rescue officials said additional verified details would be released as they become available.
The area is part of a broader pattern of glacier-related risk across northern Pakistan. Both Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain vulnerable to glacier bursts and glacial lake outburst floods, hazards that are intensifying as the climate warms.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department, in its outlook for the 2026 monsoon season, cautioned that higher than normal temperatures could speed up snow and glacier melt, raising the likelihood of increased runoff and localised glacier hazards, including glacial lake outburst floods capable of triggering severe flooding downstream.
Pakistan holds more than 13,032 glaciers, giving it the largest concentration of glacial ice outside the polar regions. Experts have warned that around 10,000 of these, located across Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan, are receding due to climate driven warming.
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Last month, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission identified 130 glacial lakes considered potentially dangerous to downstream communities, of which only 24 are currently unfrozen and can be visually monitored.
The Kalam incident follows a similar event in August 2025, when at least 200 people were rescued after a glacier burst in Gilgit-Baltistan blocked the Ghizer River, resulting in the formation of two new lakes.
