Heavy rains: Three children killed in roof collapse

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: Three children reportedly died on Wednesday after a roof of the house they were in collapsed on them due to heavy rains.

Early on Wednesday morning, the roof of the house, where the family of a brick labourer lived, near at the Allah Ditta Brick Kiln near Benazir Chowk in Tarnol collapsed at around 3am.

The incident resulted in fatal causalities to three Afghan children identified as 10-year-old Usman, seven-year-old Abdullah and four-year-old Zargai.

While the incident took place within the remits of Tarnol police, the matter was not reported to the cops.

Chief commissioner’s office flooded

Meanwhile, the office of the chief commissioner turned into a swimming pool owing to the absence of proper drainage arrangements.

Staffers at the commissioner’s office and litigants, since some courts of the judicial magistrate are also located in the building, faced difficulties due to the stagnant water.  The office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) is also located in the same building and is frequented by a large number of citizens.

Pindi inundated again

Low-lying areas of Rawalpindi were inundated again on Wednesday owing to heavy rains early in the morning.

It created problems for residents who prepared to leave for their jobs and for children who have just resumed school. The rain started at around 5am in different parts of the city and continued intermittently till 9am.

Rainwater flooded streets of Sadiqabad and adjoining areas, the Jamia Masjid Road, College Road, and Murree Road. Low-lying areas such as Javaid Colony, Ariyan Mohallah, Dhoke Khabba, Dhoke Chiragh Din, and Waris Khan were also inundated

While rainwater either receded or was pumped out by the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa), it left behind mud and dirt in many areas. Residents had asked sanitation workers to wash the dirty streets, but to little effect, posing a health hazard.

Meanwhile, officials said that the water level in Nullah Leh remained at six feet as the twin cities received around 35 millimetres of rainfall.

One dead in Jhelum roof collapse

A girl was killed and four other members of her family were injured when the roof of a house caved in, in the suburbs of Jhelum on Wednesday.

Zulfiqar Ali was sleeping in his house in Dhoke Wahabdin with his wife, two sons and a daughter when the roof came falling down on them.

His daughter died under the weight of the rubble while Ali, his wife and two sons were injured.  A hairdresser by profession, Ali said he has nine children and Attia was the youngest.

“We were preparing for her marriage which was scheduled to be held a week later in Jalalpur,” he cried.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN JHELUM

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2017.