Death toll from KP rains put at 63

PESHAWAR: At least 63 persons were killed and 78 others injured in the recent rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Sunday.

“The dead include 33 children, 15 men and 15 women,” the PDMA said in its report, adding, 17 women, 37 men, and 24 children were injured.

According to the report, 477 houses were destroyed and 2,725 suffered damage.

Various districts, including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera Khyber, Lower Chitral, Upper Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swat, Bajaur, Shangla, Mansehra, Mohmand, Malakand, Karak, Tank, Mardan, Buner, Hangu, Battagram, Bannu, North and South Waziristan, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan and Orakzai suffered financial losses due to rain.

On the directive of chief minister, the PDMA released Rs110 million to the administration of affected districts thus far, the report said, adding that Rs90 million were released for relief activities in the newly merged districts.

Along with financial support, it added, the PDMA provided relief items to the most-affected districts of Peshawar, Nowshera, Chitral, Swat, Bajaur, Lower Kohistan, Mohmand, Upper Dir, Tank, Shangla and Torghar, etc.

The relief items included tents, mats, kitchen sets, blankets, beds, tarpaulins, solar lamps, and other daily life items.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the PDMA said that relief activities were ongoing in the rain-affected districts.

He said the PDMA had already cautioned officials of all the districts to take precautionary measures ahead of the third spell of rain which was likely to hit the province.