Peshawar dust storm claims lives of four children, injures 25

A heavy dust storm reduced visibility to zero contributing to road accidents. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE

PESHAWAR: At least four children were killed and 25 people injured when roofs and walls of houses collapsed as a heavy dust storm hit the Peshawar valley on Wednesday evening.

The dust storm lasted about 40 minutes, but it was enough to cause widespread damage.

A spokesperson for the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the province’s biggest medical facility, told The Express Tribune that they had received at least four dead bodies and 25 injured after the storm and an emergency has been declared in the casualty department of the hospital due to the arrival of large numbers of injured.

The hospital record showed that a ten year-old girl Adila, five year-old Obaid, four year-old Musadiq, and 12 year-old Ghuncha were killed in different parts of the district when the roofs and walls collapsed.

Some of the 25 people injured had been involved in road accidents as the dust storm reduced visibility to zero. “Majority of the injured are not serious but a few people have been critically injured, they have been provided treatment at the hospital,” the spokesperson said, adding that most of the injured have been sent home after treatment.