Five merchants — Seyed Fakher Payamard, Yousef Tankhaah, Hadi Seyfil, Seyed Kamil Payamard, and Abdolmajid Taram — who had gone missing in a snowstorm in the Dargamish border highlands of Oshnavieh, were rescued with the assistance of local people and emergency response teams.
According to Kolbarnews, on October 25, the trapped individuals were rescued from the Dargamish highlands by the Red Crescent and local residents. All five merchants suffered from frostbite due to inadequate equipment and were taken to medical facilities in Oshnavieh for treatment.
The group had initially gone missing during heavy snowfall on Thursday evening, October 24, in the border area of Oshnavieh, specifically in the “Kelashin” highlands, where they had been working. Rescue efforts included emergency responders, local residents, and groups of mountain climbers and off-road drivers who searched the area throughout the night until they were successfully located.
According to registered statistics from Kolbarnews, in the first six months of 1403, a total of 142 Kolbars in border areas and interroad routes of the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah were killed or injured due to various factors such as direct shooting by military forces, avalanches, frostbite, stepping on landmines, falling from heights, and other incidents. Of these, a total of 36 Kolbars (25%) were killed, and 106 Kolbars (75%) were injured. Among the 142 Kolbars who were killed or injured in the first half of 2024, 124 cases (87%) were due to direct shooting or beating by military forces. Furthermore, 10 of these Kolbars were children under the age of 18. Compared to the same period in 2023, there has been a 67% increase in the number of Kolbars killed and injured along the Kurdish border.
