Monsoon woes: Three women swept away by rainwater

BATTAGRAM:

Three women were killed by a flashflood in Banna village in Shamlai Tehsil, 45 km from the district headquarter, here on Tuesday afternoon.

Two of the bodies were recovered while the search for the third was still ongoing when this report was filed, police told. Three men who were also drawn in by the flooded stream were however rescued by locals and police.

A heavy downpour lashed the hilly area of Shamlai Tehsil in Battagram District from early on Tuesday, leaving all the streams overflowing with rainwater.

Police and eyewitnesses said that a family from Banna was herding its buffaloes towards a nearby grazing area via a causeway, known locally as Nandehaar, when a heavy current of water swept them away.

The police added that three men from the family were lucky enough to get caught
in the nearby bushes and were later rescued unharmed by villagers and a policy party.

However all three women disappeared within seconds.

The bodies of two of the victims, Said Marjana, 50, and Parveen Bibi, 30, were retrieved by local rescue workers and police at some distance from their village, however the body of Hafizoon Bibi, 15, is still missing.

No other loss of life or property was reported from other parts of Battagram District, police told.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2011.