PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD/
MUZAFFARABAD: At least 22 people, including women and children, were killed in separate rain-related incidents in various areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Five persons of a family were killed in landslide in Sarli Sacha Village, Naseeabad tehsil of Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
According to police, five bodies and an injured girl were evacuated from the debris and shifted to nearby hospital. Those killed were identified as Ghulam Hussain, his wife Shaheen Bibi, his daughter Shareen Bibi, and his sons Asrar Ahmad and Abrar Ahmad. Another girl, Samreen BB, daughter of Ghulam Hussain, was rescued alive in critical condition and was being treated at the hospital, police added. Five other houses were also destroyed in the landslides. At least six persons were killed after they were trapped under debris amid storm in a village of Bhag district. The locals safely pulled out five children from the heap, however elders were killed in the incident. At least five members of a family were killed and two others injured after a house caved in due to heavy downpour in Bandra area of Timergara in Lower Dir on Saturday. The bodies and the injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital Timergara for medico legal formalities and treatment.
The police said that the deceased and injured persons hailed from the same family. The identity of the deceased and the injured could not be ascertained immediately.
Another six people died due to roof collapse in Gandaal area of Kurram Agency, Radio Pakistan reported on Saturday. Vehicular traffic between Rawalpindi and Gilgit has been suspended at the Karakorum Highway due to landslides at Bisham, Dasu and Pattan. The Frontier Works Organisation was busy in removing debris from the highway to restore the traffic.
At least 79 people have been killed and over 100 others injured in separate rain-triggered accidents in the country over the past 10 days, authorities said on Saturday.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the country’s northwestern tribal area was the worst-hit where 22 people were killed, 33 others injured and 36 houses collapsed in incidents caused by torrential rains. In Orakzai Agency of the tribal belt, seven laborers were killed and 10 others injured when a coal mine caved in due to landslide caused by heavy rains. The country’s southern Balochistan province also saw heavy rains which caused several incidents of roof collapse. The NDMA said 19 people were killed, 20 others injured and 50 houses collapsed in the heavy downpour in various areas of the province. A total of 11 people were killed in seven separate house collapse incidents in Kashmir region. The Inter-Services Public Relations said that heavy rains caused landslides in the mountainous region of Kashmir which lead to casualties. The country’s eastern Punjab province was also affected by the rains where 10 people were killed, 18 others injured and four houses collapsed. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 10 people were killed, 16 injured and 77 houses destroyed due to torrential rains.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a report on Tuesday that the fresh rain spell that started lashing the country on Thursday was expected to end on Saturday night. The Met Office said thundershowers were expected at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Lahore divisions, upper FATA, Islamabad, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in next 24 hours. Westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and likely to persist in next 24 hours, an official of Met Office told APP. Possibility of landslides, avalanches is likely in hilly areas of Malakand, Hazara divisions and Kashmir during next 24 hours. Few hail storms are also expected in Malakand, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and Potohar region during the period.
