Five dead, nine injured as rain lashes K-P

Houses damaged, power supply suspended, traffic gridlocks witnessed across K-P

PESHAWAR/BANNU/ABBOTTABAD/WARI: At least five people were killed while nine others were injured in rain-related incidents across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.

Heavy rain lashed the province and mercury levels plummeted. This triggered flashfloods in various areas. Several houses were damaged and power supply was suspended for a long time. Traffic gridlocks were also witnessed in various parts of the province.

Upper Dir

At least three boys were reportedly swept away as Wari, Upper Dir was inundated on Wednesday morning.

According to the police, 10-year-old Huzaifa, Talha and Liaqat Ali were walking past a river when a strong wave swept them away. Liaqat was rescued by local divers in critical condition but Huzaifa and Talha drowned. Their bodies have yet to be found and a search operation is under way.

Abbottabad

Two brothers were killed while nine others were injured in separate accidents caused by heavy rain in different parts of Abbottabad district.



According to the police, a woman was sleeping in a room with her sons when landslide hit her house causing the roof to collapse in Thanda Maira village. Seven-year-old Imranullah Yusuf and his 12-year-old brother Ehsanullah Yusuf were killed while their mother, Zulekha Bibi, was rescued by locals and shifted to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

At least eight people were injured in Nawanshehr and its surrounding areas when trees and walls fell on them on the same day. According to Rescue 1122 personnel, the boundary wall of Abbottabad Police Lines collapsed, destroying four vehicles parked near it.

Moreover, over two dozen mud houses along with belongings and furniture were damaged when floods blocked drains on Kakul Road, Bilal Town, Lower Jinnahabad, Supply area, Jhugiyan, Hasan Town and several other areas. Traffic on Mansehra Road also remained suspended for several hours and most of the urban areas in the district experienced long hours of power outages after electricity poles and wires were damaged. According to Pesco officials, efforts to restore power supply to the areas were under way.

Bannu

A teenage boy drowned while fishing in a river within the jurisdiction of Ghoriwala police station in Bannu.

Kamran had gone fishing along with his friends when he accidentally slipped in the water and was swept away by a strong current. The fishing instructor and workers of Civil Defence Bannu rushed to the site and found his body after six hours. It was handed over to his family.

Peshawar

Heavy downpour caused drains to overflow in Peshawar. Stagnant water on GT, Saddar, Kohat, Ring and Charsadda roads created problems for commuters in the city.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Peshawar recorded 19 millimetres of rain in the city throughout the day and forecasted heavy rainfall with thunderstorm in the next 24 hours.

An official of the PMD department told The Express Tribune that clouds bearing monsoon rain entered the province from Lahore and India on Tuesday night, affecting parts of central K-P and Malakand Division.

“The system is expected to prevail over the province for the next two days, but will affect central K-P, including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda and Malakand Division the most,” a meteorologist of the PMD Peshawar office said.

The official added scattered rainfall in parts of southern K-P, including Kohat, DI Khan and Bannu was also expected. The PMD recorded 90mm rainfall in Kakul, 44mm in Malam Jabba, 21mm in Pattan area of Kohistan district, 21mm in Risalpur, 8mm in Dir and 9mm in Saidu Sharif.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2016.