PESHAWAR: Three people were killed and nine others injured in roof collapse incidents as a fresh wave of rain and snowfall hit parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
The rains, which had started in plain areas late Saturday night, continued throughout the day. The mountainous areas in Upper Dir, Chitral, Swat and Kohistan received snowfall, increasing the chill and forcing the dwellers to stay indoors.
In Bajaur, two women were killed and five other members of a family sustained injuries when a portion of their house caved in due to torrential rains in Gailay area in Mamond tehsil.
Residents said that a portion of the house of one Luqman collapsed in the Gailay area in Mamond, burying the inmates alive under the debris.
Soon after the incident, the residents and personnel of Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
They retrieved the body of a woman and rescued two women and four children in an injured condition.
The medical team of Rescue 1122 provided first aid to the injured and later shifted them to a hospital where another woman succumbed to her injuries.
The dead were identified as Salma, wife of Luqman and Saima, wife of Shaukat, while Fateha, wife of Shah Wakil, Hamad, 13, Fawad, 10, Adnan, 8, and Hina, 6, were injured in the roof collapse incident.
The residents said that incessant rains had weakened the mud-built house, which collapsed all of a sudden. In Swat, a man was killed and four other members of the family sustained injuries in a roof collapse incident in Meena Bazaar in Barikot tehsil in Swat district.
Rescue 1122 officials said that they dispatched medical and disaster teams to the Barikot soon after learning about the incident.
They said the teams launched rescue activities and pulled out the body of one Dawa Jan and rescued Zakir Khan, Sara Bibi, Sohail Khan and Gulishah from the debris in injured condition. The dead and injured were shifted to a hospital in Barikot.
The intermittent rain coupled with hailstorm has been lashing Swat for the last three days.
The rains and hailstorms damaged the standing crops and fruit orchards in rural areas of the district while rainwaters inundated roads and streets in Mingora city and other towns.
The motorists and pedestrians faced hardships due to inundated roads and streets.
About 60 goats perished in Vargari village in tribal sub-division Bhittani in Lakki Marwat district due to cold amidst torrential rain and heavy hailstorms.
Locals said that torrential rain and hailstorms had damaged the standing wheat crop and killed about 60 goats in Vargari village.
It may be mentioned here that 40 goats of the same family were killed due to hailstorms last year.
Also, upper parts of Hazara division received a heavy downpour and snowfall in hilly areas.
The rain, which started in the morning, continued intermittently the rest of the day in Mansehra, Torghar, Kolai-Palas, Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan.
The Judbah-Thakot road was blocked to traffic in Torghar after heavy boulders detached from a nearby mountain rolled down on it in the Spingar area of the district.
The locals demanded the district administration to clear the road which links Torghar with the Karakoram Highway and Hazara Expressway.