Death toll from KP rains, floods surges to 29

Death toll from rain-related incidents in Khyber Pauktukhwa rose to 29 on Thursday after  the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) issued  new figures.

However, the PDMA did not specify where the eight new deaths had occurred.   

On Wednesday, at least 21 persons were killed and many others injured as rain played havoc in parts of KP.

In a major incident that happened in Sarni area in Judbah tehsil of Torghar district, a heavy boulder fell on the house of Saleh Khan, leaving nine members of his family buried alive under the rubble.

Locals rushed to the scene and pulled out the bodies of seven people, including the wife of Saleh Khan, his three daughters and son. Two sons of Saleh Khan were retrieved from the rubble in injured condition. They were shifted to a nearby hospital where they were stated to be stable.

The four members of a family, including one Muhammad Shabbir, his wife and son Noorul Islam and his brother Fazl Elahi were buried alive when a heavy boulder that detached from the nearby mountain fell on their house in Hussain Banda area in Oghi tehsil. A woman was recovered from the rubble and rushed to a nearby hospital.

In another incident, an aged man Abdul Majid and his wife were swept away when they were catching the wooden beams in Manoor Nullah in Balakot tehsil. Later, the locals fished out the body of the man while the body of his wife could not be found.

Wajid Khan, station house officer of Kaghan Police Station, told reporters that the locals attempted to rescue the drowning couple, but the fast-moving floodwater hampered their efforts and they were swept away.

In another incident, a former councillor, Umar Tawab, was killed and his wife and two sons were injured when a heavy boulder that detached from nearby mountains rolled down on his house in Chamai area in Oghi. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Two people were killed in separate incidents in Shinkiari and Lower Kohistan when landslides hit their houses. Attaullah Shah drowned in the Kunhar River in Talhat area of Garhi Habibullah. The Hazara division witnessed flash floods in Kunhar, Siran and Indus rivers and streams in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas districts. The Karakoram Highway and many links roads were blocked to traffic following the heavy landslides.

In Battagram, two children were killed and five others were injured in roof collapse incidents as heavy rain lashed several parts of Battagram. Muhammad Nawaz, and his two children were killed when the roof of the house collapsed in the Allai area. A man drowned in a river in Korrwal village. The flash floods also damaged roads in rural areas, disconnecting several villages with Battagram.

Meanwhile, in Buner four persons, including three of a family, were killed and five others were injured in rain-related incidents in the district.

In the first incident, six members of Muhammad Rahman’s family were buried alive when a boulder fell on his house in the remote Aligram Dhelai area in Chagharzai tehsil. As a result, a woman and two children were killed while three others were injured.

The Rescue 1122 shifted the injured to hospital. In the second incident, the wife of Hussain Zada was killed when the roof of a room of the house collapsed in Daggar, the headquarters of Buner district.

Two other persons werealso reported to have sustained injuries in the rain-related incidents in different areas. Also, the roads leading to Swat and Shangla districts were blocked due to landslides at Shahiday Sar Chagharzai, Bajkata, Matwani, Kalil Kandao, Pir Baba, Chamla and other places in the district.

While Torrential rains caused damage to property and road infrastructure and left two motorcyclists injured and farm animals killed in various localities of Haripur district. The recent rain spell that continued to lash Haripur intermittently for the third consecutive day, caused flooding of rivers, streams and rainwater courses, due to which a portion of Akhun Bandi bridge over Daur River was washed away.

The damage to the bridge cut off three villages of Akhun Bandi, Magri and Mohrai from the main city and suspended vehicular traffic. Two motorbike riders, identified as Muhammad Ilyas and Salim, were injured when they fell into the river while crossing the damaged portion of the bridge.

According to official sources, construction work on the bridge and the Akhun Bandi Road had been completed at a cost of Rs100 million last year. Traffic on Hattar-Taxila Road remained suspended for hours when the diversion road constructed temporarily was also washed away by flood near the Dohriyan bridge, which was now under construction and part of dualisation of road by the KP Highway Authority.

According to locals, several mud-houses were destroyed while the access roads to different countryside localities were also damaged in the remote union councils of Nara Amazai, Bait Gali, Ladarmang, Beer, Sera-e-Niamat Khan and others.

Meanwhile, a buffalo, two goats and a donkey were killed when the roof of a cattle pen, owned by one Muhammad Nawaz, a resident of remote village of Khoi Darra village in Ghazi Tehsil , collapsed on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.