24 dead as rain drenches Pakistan’s north

MUZAFFARABAD/ PESHAWAR:

A fresh spell of spring rains brought death in its wake in northern Pakistan where at least 24 people were killed in rain-related incidents on Saturday.

Particularly hard hit was Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) where 12 people, including four members of a family, were killed in landslides triggered by heavy downpour.



In Sarli Sacha Sharki village, some 40 kilometres away from Muzaffarabad, a giant boulder from a mountain overlooking the village fell on a house, killing a man, his wife and two sons.

A couple, Khalid Hussain and Shaheena, died in the Ochar Mohallah of Bagh district after their house was struck by a mudslide before dawn on Saturday. The couple’s daughter was pulled out alive by rescuers.

A mud-house gave in to heavy downpour in Pala Chaudhrian village, killing a woman and her six-month-old daughter. In a similar incident, a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were killed in the Chafar village of Rawalakot district.  Separately, a 13-year-old girl died after she was struck by lightning in the Patyara village of Kotli district.

Meanwhile, at least 12 people were killed in rain-related incidents in parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (Fata).

At least five people died and three sustained injuries when a mud-house collapsed in Temer Dheri village of Lower Dir district, officials in district headquarters Timergara told The Express Tribune. The dead included a man, his two sons, one daughter and a sister-in-law. His wife and two other children received injuries in the tragic incident.

Another house located near the headquarters of Malakand Levies in Batkhela Town also collapsed, killing a child.



In Kurram Agency, the roof of a mud-house caved in before dawn on Saturday, burying alive at least six people. They could not be rescued on time and died under the debris.

In another incident, seven people went missing after an avalanche hit Susum village in Chitral’s Karimabad area, said a spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). Six of the missing men are ninth and tenth-grade students, who were returning home after their exams.

Heavy rains and landsides also caused roadblocks in mountainous districts of K-P. Officials in Swat told The Express Tribune that massive landslide blocked Bahrain-Kalam Road and Swat-Buner Road. Similarly, Alpuri-Beesham Road, Chakesar-Shahpur Road and several link roads were also hit by mudslides.

PDMA officials said efforts were under way to reopen these roads. A number of roads have been cleared for traffic in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Dir districts, the claimed.

Police said the Karakoram Highway (KKH) was blocked at four places between Dasu and Harban in Kohistan district due to heavy downpour and landslides. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), however, removed the clogs after 18-hour-long operation.

Three passenger vehicles were damaged when rocks and mud fell on them near Harban Nala, some two kilometres from Shitiyal in Kohistan.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2016.