17 more killed in rain-related incidents, avalanche

CHITRAL/LAHORE: At least 17 more people have been killed and several others sustained injuries in rain-related incidents, landslides and avalanches in different parts of the country. 

The bodies of two of the nine persons, including seven students, who were buried under an avalanche in Chitral’s Lotkoh tehsil were recovered on Sunday, officials and local representatives said.

District Council Chitral member Muhammad Yaqoob said that nine schoolchildren were buried under the avalanche near the remote Susoom village on Saturday. “The Chitral Scouts, Focus humanitarian organisation and locals launched the search early in the day and retrieved the bodies of the two students, Mubashir Ali and Rahmat Bai,” he added.

The other victims were Imranuddin, Imran, Alishan, Muhammad Elahi, Faiz Ali and Irshad Ahmed. The victims were students of grade-X and were taking the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Peshawar examinations at the Government High School in Susoom. They were returning home after giving the examination paper when the avalanche hit them.

Their relatives and people of the area started searching for the students when they did not return home even in the evening. Officials of the Chitral Scouts, Chitral Levies, police and civil society organisations members launched rescue efforts to save the trapped students. However, the official said they were facing difficulties due to falling boulders and snowfall in the mountainous area. The rescue efforts were halted for some time in the morning due to rain and snowfall. Hopes for the survivors were fading due to the inability of the rescuers to find them and the major objective now was to find the bodies. 

Muhammad Yaqoob, the District Council member, said the Karimabad area received more than two feet of snow and the roads and tracks in the valley had become dangerous due to the melting snow and falling boulders and avalanches.

Deputy Commissioner Chitral Osama Ahmed Warraich said the provincial government has announced compensation of Rs300,000 each for the victims. He said the inclement weather was hampering the rescue efforts.

“The relief activities were launched in time but heavy snowfall and fear of more avalanches were hampering the rescue work,” he added. Meanwhile, four persons, including two children and a woman, were killed and five women sustained injuries in a roof collapse incident in Bako Dheri here, local people said.

They said that the mother of one Zahir Shah, a resident of Bako Dheri, had passed away and his relatives had come to offer condolences when the roof of a room at his house caved in.

It was learnt that four-year-old Hamza, five-year-old Yaseen, 30-year-old Sultana Bibi and 50-year-old Lal Faroosh were killed. Bakht Nasiba Bibi, Johara Bibi, Mir Rahmana Bibi, Husana Bibi and Alima Bibi suffered wounds. The injured were taken to a hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable.

A man was killed and two children sustained injuries in a roof collapse incident in Khushal Koroona in Tangi tehsil in Charsadda district on Sunday, official sources said. They said the roof of a house of one Imtiaz caved in early in the day. The locals rushed to the spot and retrieved the body of Imtiaz and rescued the children in an injured condition.

The injured children were rushed to the nearby hospital where their condition was stated to be stable. As many as four women were killed while two others sustained wounds as roof of a house in Jaranwala caved in due to heavy rainfall on Sunday.

The incident took place in the morning when the roof collapsed, killing labourer Tahir’s wife, two daughters and his sister while two others sustained injuries.  The locals gathered at the spot and rescued the injured. The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment. The dead were identified as Shabana, four-year-old Muqaddas, two-year-old Ayesha and Shakeela.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) says 79 people have died and 101 others injured during recent rains in the country. Ten persons were killed in Punjab, 19 in Balochistan, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22 in Fata and 11.  The authority said 240 houses have also been damaged due to rains since March 9. These include 50 houses in Balochistan, 77 in KP, 36 in Fata, four in Punjab and 73 in AJK.