Six die as rain, snowfall hit parts of KP

PESHAWAR: Six people were killed and several others injured as the provincial capital and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa received heavy rain and snowfall on Friday.

The fatalities were reported from Peshawar and the Lower Kohistan district of the Hazara division.

A child was killed in a roof collapse incident in Badaber town of Peshawar. The victim was stated to be an eight-month-old child.

Four persons were injured when a mud-built house came down in the Tajabad neighborhood of the Board Bazaar under heavy rain. The wife and three children of a man, Waheed, were trapped in the debris. They were rescued and shifted to a hospital where the condition of one of the kids was stated to be serious.

Five persons were killed and another sustained injuries when a passenger car skidded off on the Karakoram Highway due to heavy rain and plunged into a ravine in the Torkamar area of Lower Kohistan.

The car, carrying passengers from Gilgit, was on its way to Islamabad when the driver, while negotiating a sharp turn on Karakoram Highway, lost control over steering in the rain as a result of which it plunged into the ravine.

The Rescue 1122 teams rushed to the spot and shifted the injured and dead to the Civil Hospital in Pattan.

Sajjad Ali, the Rescue 1122 head in Lower Kohistan, said that Ahtsham Khan, stated to be a resident of Gilgit, Mohammad Ali of Charsadda, Mohammad Imran of Fatehjang and two others whose identities were yet to be established, died in the accident.

“The region has been experiencing heavy rains since morning and the Karakoram Highway is yet to be cleared for the traffic from Lower to Upper Kohistan,” he said.

The rain, which started early in the morning in Mansehra, Torghar, Abbottabad, Kolai-Palas, Upper Kohistan and Lower Kohistan, continued intermittently the entire day.

The hilly and high altitude parts of Kaghan Valley, the tourists’ resort of Shogran, Konsh Valley, Siran Valley in Mansehra, Kandia Valley, Spat Valley in Kohistan and Nathiagali received heavy snowfall. The fresh spell of snowfall turned the weather cold in the upper parts of the Hazara division.

Swat and Shangla continued to receive snowfall. The tourist resort of Malam Jabba was covered with heavy snow. The Rescue 1122 staff rescued six tourists who were later shifted to a safe location.

WANA: South Waziristan Lower continued to experience intermittent rain and snowfall that badly affected the routine.

The roof of the room collapsed in the house of Naik Mohammad in the Khushikhel area of Wana, Lower South Waziristan.

A former president of Wana Press Club and journalist Naik Muhammad was seriously injured. He was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana. Later Deputy Commissioner Lower South Waziristan Nasir Khan and DPO Farmanullah visited the injured journalist.

CHITRAL: The Upper and Lower Chitral districts continued to receive rains and snowfall in parts. Baroghil, Yarkhun, Laspur, Torkhow, Morkoh, Lotkoh, upper Sheeshkoh, Arsun, Bumburit, Birir, Rumbur and Golan were hit by snowfall. The snowfall received was from six inches to two feet.

The snowfall continued on both sides of the Lowari Tunnel but the passage was kept open for vehicular traffic by removing snow from the road with heavy machines.

Far-off valleys in Upper Chitral such as Sosoom, Karimabad, Arkari, Gobor, Khot, Reech, upper Terich, and Aveer were cut off from other parts of the district as the roads were closed for traffic due to heavy snowfall.

Public sector schools in Chitral were closed for Saturday due to the snowfall which had disrupted the routine.

The district administration announced a public holiday for today (Saturday) due to the heavy snowfall that had caused the closure of several link roads.