PM Imran Khan visits injured in AJK as death toll from extreme cold weather rises.

MUZAFFARABAD/ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Azad Jammu and Kashmir's (AJK) capital Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, a day after the region witnessed extreme weather conditions resulting in the deaths of at least 76 individuals.

PM Imran Khan was accompanied by Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur and other officials. President AJK Sardar Muhammad Masood Khan, PM AJK Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan, Speaker AJK Legislative Assembly Shah Ghulam Qadir and other officials received PM Imran Khan upon arrival in Muzaffarabad.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the premier received a briefing from the chief secretary of AJK regarding the damages incurred due to snowfall and avalanches in the region as well as the relief efforts undertaken.

The prime minister also visited the injured at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Muzaffarabad.

The death toll in avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents during the current spell of a westerly wave weather system across the country has surged to over 100, with most of the cases being reported from AJK.

Officials had said the figure could further go up as some areas in the Neelum Valley were still inaccessible due to heavy snowfall, while weather pundits forecast another spell of snowfall beginning on Friday.

Meanwhile five more bodies were recovered from the Neelum Valley in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday as the death toll from an avalanche that had struck a day earlier rose to 73.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 22 shops and more than a hundred houses were struck as a result of the avalanche, with at least 91 houses completely destroyed and 101 partially damaged. The cold snap that caused the avalanche is likely to continue today.

Avalanches, flooding and extreme weather conditions have claimed more than 130 lives across Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent days...