Snow, rain incidents kill eight in K-P

At least 24 people injured; floods in south K-P paralyses life

SWABI/ ABBOTTABAD: At least eight people have been killed and 24 others were injured in rain and snow-related incidents across the province on Wednesday. The latest casualties mean that the death toll from the ongoing spell of heavy rain and snow has climbed up to 35.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has already declared a weather emergency in the province after the torrential rains wreaked havoc across the province.

Rescue 1122 officials on Wednesday said at least four people, including a woman, were killed when an avalanche struck three vehicles near Kundla Morr on the Abbottabad-Murree Road late on Tuesday night.

Images from the site showed locals and rescue officials dig the bodies out from mounds of snow. Rescue officials said that two cars and a van were travelling from Abbottabad to Murree on Tuesday evening when they were caught by the avalanche. The mass of snow, rocks and other debris sliding down the hillside pushed the cars into the roadside ravine but the van miraculously survived.

Police, Rescue 1122 and Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) staff along with locals reached the site with a fork lifter and removed the vehicles from the avalanche-hit road.

Rescue officials said that thus far, they had managed to remove the body of a woman from the wreckage while efforts are underway to recover the remaining three bodies believed to trapped under the snow.

At least 21 people, who were injured in the incident, have been shifted to the Nathiagali hospital, the Abbottabad District Headquarters Hospital and the Ayub Medical Complex, officials added.

Meanwhile, four women were killed and three others were injured when the roof of a house collapsed in the Marghuz area of Swabi district late on Tuesday night.

The Zaida police said that Anwar Ali was entertaining some guests when the roof of his house caved in due to the heavy rains.

Four women of his family lost their lives while three others, including two men, sustained injuries.

The injured have been shifted to the Bacha Khan Medical Complex, they added.

Paralyzed life

Torrential rains, heavy snowfall and flooding have paralysed life in the southwestern districts of Dera Ismail Khan, South Waziristan and Tank.

Locals said that at least one house has been completely washed away by the rains in Tank.

The local administration said that residents of Darband area have been stranded as the floods have cut off the link roads. They added that they managed to shift most of the affected to safe places before the roads were cut off and efforts are underway to reach out to those who need help.

Meanwhile, a cattle shed in Batkhela area of Malakand district collapsed in which a cow was killed and a calf was injured.

Rescue 1122 recovered the cow from the debris.

Weather forecast

The Pakistan Meteorological Department on Wednesday predicted widespread rain, wind and thunderstorm in DI Khan, South and North Waziristan, Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Kohat, Orakzai, Hangu, Kurram, Peshawar, Khyber, Charsadda, Mohmand and Nowshera districts.

Scattered rain, wind and thunderstorm are expected in Swabi, Mardan, Malakand, Bunner, Chitral, Upper and Lower Dir, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Torghar, Kohistan, Battagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur districts. Snowfall is also be expected over high mountains in Chitral, Swat, Upper Dir, Shangla, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Kurram districts. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2020.