Flash flood sweeps away 27 wedding revellers

All victims were closely related, most of them from the same family

LANDIKOTAL: A flash flood triggered by monsoon rains swept away a pick-up truck carrying 30 wedding guests in Khyber Agency on Saturday, killing all but three of them.

Twenty-one among the dead were females with 18 of them children. Three more women and two other men died in the accident. All the victims were closely related, most of them from the same family. It was unclear whether the bride and groom were also travelling in the same wagon.

The bodies of the victims were retrieved from the stream by locals and rescuers and shifted to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Landi Kotal. The vehicle was also recovered.

Khyber Agency Political Agent Khalid Mehmood told The Express Tribune the accident took place at around 6:30am in the Sra Shaga area of Zakakhel Bazaar, Landi Kotal.

The pickup truck was travelling on a path along a rainwater stream when a surge of water hit the vehicle. The wagon slipped into the stream and was washed away in the flash flood. “There were no warning signs as most of these nullah’s have been dormant for long,” Mehmood said.

Tribesmen from the surrounding areas rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation, fishing out bodies and rescuing survivors.

Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) also joined the rescue mission later. Officials of the political administration and Khasadar personnel were also present at the site.

FDMA Director-General Fayaz Ali Shah told The Express Tribune said 30 people were on the truck, which was part of a wedding procession.

The funeral prayers for most of the deceased were offered later in the day and the victims were laid to rest in their hometown. Under the official policy, the families of the deceased will be paid Rs300,000 each in compensation.

The tribal areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province have received intermittent heavy rains over the past few weeks, destroying houses and causing floods at some places.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the National Disaster Management Authority said about 55 people had died across the country since the monsoon rains started in July.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.