15 die in fresh rain-related incidents in KP, Punjab

PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: At least 15 persons were killed and several others injured in roof collapse incidents as rain continued to hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab on the third consecutive day on Tuesday.
Seven members of a family were killed and three others sustained injuries when the roof of a house collapsed in the Doaba area in Hangu district early in the day, local sources said.They said that Said Wazir, along with his family members, was asleep when the roof of his house caved in under heavy rain in the area.
Said Wazir, his wife Shehnaz Bibi, and their kids, including Luqman, Sapna Bibi, Sabiha, Sanila, Safina, Muhammad Khan, Lubna and Fatima, were buried alive.Locals rushed to the area and started rescue activities. They retrieved the bodies of seven members of the family while three were rescued in an injured condition.
The injured, including Muhammad Khan, Lubna and Fatima, were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Hangu.Two persons were killed when the roof of a house collapsed in Jangalkhel area in Kohat, official sources said.
The sources said that the roof of a house in Jangalkhel collapsed early in the day, killing two siblings.Four persons were wounded when the roof of a building collapsed in Imamia Colony, located at the entrance to Gulbahar in Peshawar. The wounded were identified as Shahzad, Naeem, Riaz and Ali.
According to an official of the provincial metrological department, partially cloudy weather is expected in the next 24 hours across the province. He said four millimeters rain was recorded in the provincial capital. The maximum temperature on Tuesday was 16 degree centigrade while the minimum was 9.
The upper parts of Hazara and Malakand divisions also received rain in the plains and snowfall in the mountains.At least eight members of a family were killed and 10 others injured when a two storey building collapsed in a storm in Wah Cantt in the wee hour of Tuesday.
According to details, a residential building in Saddar Wah Cantt area collapsed due to heavy rain killing eight people including four children and two women and injuring 10 others.The two-storey building was said to have collapsed due to heavy rain, which also caused problems for Rescue 1122 personnel during the operation. The workers were aided by army personnel and Edhi volunteers.
Rescue agencies recovered ten injured from the rubble including three children. The injured were shifted to District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital for emergency treatment. The eight deceased were identified as Sadia, Sapna, Syed Nazeer, Mumtaz, Bagh Sultana, Shumaila Nazeer and Ahmed Nazeer. A nine year old girl named Fatima was also recovered from the rubble during the rescue operation which took almost 10 hours.
Meanwhile at least 13 people sustained injuries in various incidents of road mishaps as fog blanketed the plain areas of Punjab after two days of incessant rains.Many local and international flight schedules were disrupted due to fog causing trouble to the passengers at the airports.
Fog clogged the roadway from Lahore to Sheikhupura dropping the visibility to zero whereas visibility from Sheikhupura to Khankah Dogra remained restricted to 25 meters. Heavy traffic, therefore, was not permitted to get on the road.
In Hafizabad, collision of a school and passenger van at Kaleke Mandi injured six including five kids. Injured were shifted to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.Several cars bumped into each other at Lahore Road near Tabba Rehmat in Sheikhupura as fog clouded vision whereas an auto rickshaw met an accident at Gujranwala Road injuring seven people.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Tuesday expressed grief over the losses caused by recent rains in various parts of the country.Regretting the loss of valuable lives, the prime minister directed the provincial and local authorities to take immediate relief and rehabilitation measures so as to mitigate the sufferings of the people.
The prime minister also directed the health authorities to keep a close watch on the possibility of outbreak of any epidemic in rain affected areas and to take preventive measures in this regard.