Heavy snow has stranded passengers, tourists and cargo at Khunjerab Pass on the Pakistan-China border, and police are telling travellers to stay away from the pass until the road is cleared.
What happened
Snow and rain kept falling across Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday 13 November, the last day of the westerly wave forecast to run until the morning of 14 November. At Khunjerab Top, about four inches of snow and ice covered the Karakoram Highway, and the road turned slippery enough that three containers skidded off it. One Chinese container overturned after skidding. Its driver was pulled out safely by local travellers and Khunjerab Security Police personnel and was unhurt, and the other drivers were rescued.
Gilgit-Baltistan police said snowfall was still continuing at Khunjerab Top, with several vehicles and dozens of containers carrying imported goods from China stranded for hours. Heavy snowfall from Dhee Headquarters to Khunjerab Top had made the road hazardous for travel.
Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Tourism Naiknaam Karim was among the stranded passengers. In a video message he said the Chinese side had been cleared for traffic, while on the Pakistani side the road at Khunjerab Top was covered with about four inches of snow and ice and two to three cars had skidded. He appealed to the Frontier Works Organisation to deploy machinery at once, and raised concern over the lack of facilities and machinery to clear snow on the Pakistani side.
Separately, the Ghizer-Shandur Road was completely blocked to all types of traffic after a landslide at Hopper Pari following heavy rain on Thursday night.
What it means for travellers
Do not travel towards Khunjerab until weather and road conditions improve. That is the police advice, and the pass is effectively closed to tourists right now. Stranded passengers also pointed out that the area sits at an altitude of over 15,000 feet, which brings an added risk of oxygen shortage and other problems at that height.
This is the same westerly wave covered in our earlier forecast, which expected rain and snow across Gilgit-Baltistan until the afternoon of 14 November. The system is now clearing, but the roads it leaves behind stay hazardous until they are cleared. Babusar Top has been closed since 11 October 2026, with reopening expected around June 2027: high passes close with snow, and they do not reopen on a timetable.
If a Khunjerab trip is on your plan, build in buffer days and check conditions before setting out. Call the police helpline at 15 before travelling for the latest road information.
What to watch
Whether Frontier Works Organisation machinery reaches Khunjerab Top and clears the road today, and how long the stranded containers and vehicles take to move once it does. Whether the Ghizer-Shandur Road reopens after the landslide at Hopper Pari. And whether any fresh weather system follows this one, now that the westerly wave has run its course.
Source: Dawn, “Snowfall strands passengers, cargo at Khunjerab”, 14 November 2026. Read the original report here: https://www.dawn.com/news/2044384/snowfall-strands-passengers-cargo-at-khunjerab
