Over 20 killed in various incidents over Eid

Road mishaps and roof collapses due to torrential rain contribute most incidents

LANDI KOTAL/ SWABI/ CHITRAL/ SWAT/ PESHAWAR/ UPPER DIR/ CHARSADDA: At least 21 people lost their lives in various incidents across the province on the first two days of Eidul Azha. Several people were also injured in the incident.

Over a dozen people were also injured in these incidents.

Road accidents

At least five people lost their lives while over a dozen were seriously injured in two separate incidents in Lower Dir. A Hiace loaded with passengers was returning to Upper Dir from Lower Dir when it fell into a ravine near Upper Barawal area. As a result, five passengers were killed on the spot while a further eight were injured.

Local and rescue officials pulled the dead and injured from the wreckage and rushed them to the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital for treatment. Doctors there described the condition of three of the injured as critical.

Meanwhile, another pickup plunged into a roadside ravine, injuring at least six people, including women and children. They were shifted to Warai hospital in critical conditions, the hospital medical superintendent (MS) said.

Separately, a person was killed and two others were seriously injured when a motorbike collided with a Suzuki van in Sheikh village of Peshawar on Tuesday.

The police said that two people were riding on a motorbike in Mathra village on the outskirts of Peshawar when it collided with the van. The accident left a young motorbike rider dead, while the two others were seriously injured.

The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment in critical condition, while the body was handed over to the family of the deceased after an autopsy, the police said.

In Landi Kotal, a motorbike collided with a car, leaving a young man, identified as Sahil, dead.

Meanwhile, another road incident in the district between a car and a motorbike left two youngsters seriously injured. They were shifted to the local hospital where their condition was described as normal.

At least two people died in Swat while another was seriously injured in a road mishap in the Khawaza Khela Tehsil on Tuesday. Local police said that a bike and car collided, leaving two people dead another injured.

The injured was shifted to hospital, while the bodies were shifted to a morgue in Buner.

Other incidents

In Swabi, a man was killed in an alleged property dispute.

Local police told The Express Tribune that Syedur Rehman alias Babu had a property dispute with his brother Niaz Gul. Rehman allegedly killed his brother in Gumbat and then, to hide the evidence, tried to blow up his brother’s body with a hand grenade. He also shot at his brother’s family to make it look like a terrorist incident.

Police have launched an investigation against the accused and arrested them in a raid, recovering the murder weapon and hand grenades from him.

In Charsadda, a suspected drug addict allegedly killed his wife and child while injuring is the second child.

The Umarzai police said that the man, who is suspected to be addicted to crystal methamphetamines (also known as ‘Ice’) reported exchanged harsh words with his family
and later shot at his 50-year-old wife and 25-year-old son, and another teenaged son.

Police said that they have shifted the dead and injured to the hospital while the accused has been arrested.

Meanwhile, at least 11 people were seriously injured when a gas cylinder exploded on Tuesday in a tourist spot of Madyan area in Swat.

The injured were rushed to a local hospital where the condition of four of the injured was described as serious.

Drowning and rains

A young person drowned in a local river in Swabi on Eid day, local police said.

Officials said that a resident of Gadoon in Diwal had gone to the river with his friends when he slipped and fell into the raging river.

Divers recovered his body after several hours. He was later buried in his native area.

In another incident, the roof of a house caved in on the second day of Eid, leaving two people dead and three injured in Swat.

Meanwhile, the roof of another house collapsed in the Khawaza Khel area, killing six of a family.

The rescue workers recovered the bodies from the debris, while the search for a missing child continues.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2019.