Five people die in rain-related incidents countrywide

ISLAMABAD: Five people died and several others were injured in rain-related incidents as downpour lashed different parts of the country early Wednesday.

Two people were killed in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where stormy rains lasting three hours wreaked havoc on houses and school buildings late Tuesday. The most damage was done in the towns of Amandi Hanif and Baka Khel and in Shabqadr in Charsadda tehsil, where rainwater entered houses and submerged various streets.

A child died while three women were injured when roof of a house collapsed due to rain in Charsadda.  Police said heavy rain lashed different areas of Charsadda due to which roof of dilapidated mud-stone made house located in Gharibabad area of tehsil Shabqadar of Charsadda caved in. Four members of a family were trapped under the debris. The locals on self-help basis pulled out the body of nine-year-old boy and three injured women after removing the wreckage and shifted them to a hospital.  In Peshawar, heavy rain submerged low-lying areas including important junctions opposite Radio Pakistan and district Nazim office. Several roads were inundated and traffic jams were seen.

In Punjab, several low-lying areas were submerged as heavy rain with strong winds continued in Faisalabad, Islamabad- Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Hafizabad among other cities and towns. The rains prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency in Rawalpindi. In Badin, Sindh, rainwater remains gathered inside more than 100 school buildings.

Heavy rains in the Koh-e-Sulaiman Ranges over the past few days have also led to a flood-like situation in the adjoining drains and streams. Meteorological Department of Pakistan has predicted more rain and thunderstorm (with isolated heavy falls) at scattered places in Kashmir, Upper Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad divisions) and Islamabad during the next 24 hours. Rain is also forecast over the next 24 hours at isolated places in KP (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan divisions) Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan.