Tragedy strikes: Lightning claims seven lives, destroys 8 houses

Sources say others may still be buried in the debris.

MANSEHRA:

Seven people, including two women and five children, were killed and twenty-two others injured when lightning struck a village, some 25 km east of Battagram district on Saturday afternoon, according to independent sources. Two of the severely injured were referred to Ayub Teaching Hospital.

Local government authorities and police, however, confirmed the death of four villagers only. Locals told The Express Tribune that it was raining in the evening when lightning struck a small hillock in the village near union council Shamlai. Water and stones gushed down the hill and swept houses.

“After the lightning it was like lava gushing out of the hillock,” said Naeem Rehman while talking to The Express Tribune by phone. Rehman lost his wife and a daughter in the tragic lightning incident.

Shaheen Bibi, another villager injured in the incident, told the police that she was busy cooking supper when she heard the roaring water coming towards her home. Former nazim union council Shamlai Fiaz Khan told The Express Tribune by phone that he had received information about the incident and reached the affected village with other rescue workers to recover the bodies of the killed and pull out the injured from the debris. Khan added that after three hours of hard labour, the team managed to recover four bodies and 22 injured victims who were all taken to District Headquarters Hospital, Battagram.

Khan said the rescue operation was time consuming due to the hilly terrain, adding that he feared more people could be still buried under the debris. He vowed the operation will continue to ensure all the people have been recovered.

Some independent sources put the number of casualties at seven and injuries to 17. Eight houses were completely destroyed while 20 houses were partially damaged.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2011.