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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Rains wreak havoc, kill 23 in KP, Balochistan, Punjab

By Bureau report
February 22, 2019

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Rains have wreaked havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, claiming at least 23 lives and injuring several others, it emerged on Thursday.

At least 15 persons were killed and 12 others injured in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said. Four persons, including two soldiers, were killed and five others injured in the Khyber tribal district.

Two minor girls, Habsha and Kalsoom were killed while two women were injured when the roof of Rahmatullah’s house collapsed in Bacha Mena at Torkham border in Khyber tribal district.

Soon after the incident, local people reached the site and retrieved the bodies from the debris, sources said. The incident took place at about 11:00am. An administration official, who visited the area, said that the mud house was badly affected by the current spell of rain.

In another incident, two security forces personnel were killed when the roof of a room of a checkpost caved in due to downpour in lower Tirah Valley of Khyber district, the source said. The victims were identified as Sher Zaman and Kamran.

In Dir, four persons, including two brothers, were killed and two others injured in rain-related incidents in parts of Upper Dir district.

The first incident took place in Karo Dara, a far-flung area of the Wari Tehsil, when stones fell on a house and damaged a portion of the house. As a result, two minor brothers were killed and their parents sustained injuries. In Gandigar, a boulder hit a house and a portion of it caved in due to which one person identified as Ibrahim was killed.

Similarly, a woman was killed when her house collapsed due to landslide in the Ali Gasar area of the Usheri Dara in Upper Dir.

In Chitral, two persons lost lives when a jeep fell off a bridge in Ujnu village due to snow. Seven people, including women, were injured in the accident. The jeep was on its way to Rech from Washich village in Torkhow Valley. The deceased were identified as Aziz Rahim, son of Aziz Baig, and Jamil, son of Mahmood Baig. Both were natives of Washich.

Meanwhile, rock-fall and landslide blocked the Chitral-Booni road near Kari village. The district administration advised all passengers who intend to travel in the next 24 hours to reschedule their plans.

The officials said the Dir-Chitral road at Lowari (north-south approach roads, Chitral-Booni road; Chitral-Garam Chashma road and Ayun-Kalash Valley had been blocked due to heavy snowfall. The area received heavy snowfall this year which the locals termed unprecedented.

In Nowshera, two persons were killed when roof of their houses collapsed due to torrential rains. Usman, a resident of Harichand, Charsadda, and Ihsanullah, a resident of Zrra Mena in Nowshera, lost their lives separately when roofs of their houses collapsed.

Residents of the area retrieved their bodies from the debris. Inhabitants of the area demanded the government to announce compensation for the bereaved families. In Khar, three persons, including a five year-old child, were killed in a roof collapse incident in the Enzari village in Aseel Targhao area of Barang tehsil in Bajaur district.

The roof of a room of the mud-thatched house of one Rahim Said caved in due to heavy rain on Wednesday night. As a result, he and his two other members of the family identified as Rahmeena Bibi and Shahi, 5, were killed after getting trapped under the debris. Locals retrieved the bodies from the rubble.

In a similar incident in Punjab's Rajanpur area, the roof of a house in Rojhan collapsed, killing a husband and wife. Two people were wounded in the incident.

The Balochistan government has issued an emergency alert in the district of Lasbela after flash flooding caused by torrential rains in the area killed at least four people.

The Government of Balochistan has sought help from the Pakistan Army due to the worsening situation in the district. The deputy commissioner of Lasbela said rescue operation to evacuate some 200 families trapped in a village in the district was underway. “The torrential rains and flash flooding have caused damages in the area,” he said. He added that four helicopters of the Pakistan Army will take part in the rescue and relief activities today.

A spokesperson of the provincial government confirmed that an emergency has been declared in Lasbela. The spokesperson added the concerned departments and district administration of Lasbela are taking part in the rehabilitation process.

Meanwhile, provincial Home Minister of Balochistan Ziaullah Longove visited the flood-hit areas of the province and said relief goods had been dispatched to the affected areas.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall which may trigger landslides in the province. In the last 24 hours, 45 millimeters (mm) of rain in Khuzdar, 39mm in Lasbella, 28mm in Pasni, 24mm in Turbat, 21mm in Sibbi, 19mm in Kalat, 16mm in Gwadar, 15mm in Jiwani, 13mm in Ormara, Barkhan, 12mm in Zhob, 11mm in Quetta, 10mm in Dalbandin, 6mm in Panjgur and 2mm in Nokkundi have been recorded.