Deadly lightning claims 14 lives in K-P

12 deceased are from the families of two brothers

PESHAWAR:

At least 14 people including women and children died when lightning triggered by a cloudburst struck a trio of houses in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Hazara Division on Sunday.

The incident took place in a remote area named Jhatka Amlook within Jadba tehsil in Torghar district. Two people also suffered injuries in the mishap.

According to police, the incident took place late night when a cloudburst coupled with a thunderstorm and lightning triggered a flash flood. The lightning hit three houses where the families of two brothers and a neighbour were residing.

As a result, 14 people died on the spot.  The police and locals recovered 11 bodies while search for the other three people continued. The injured included a minor and a woman.

The dead included 12 people from the families of two brothers while the remaining two deceased were from the neighbouring house.

The deceased had been identified as Shahzad Omer son of Said Omer, Shah Nawaz Khan son of Shahzad, Gul Ladina Bibi, Alaf Said wife of Gul Malook, Anwar son of Sheeraz, minor girl Asia Bibi, teenage boy Bakht Nawaz Khan, teenage girl Bakht Raz, minor girl Rubina Bibi and minor girl Umaira Bibi.

The flash floods washed away several roads and badly hampered relief efforts.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan directed the rescue department and officials of the district administration to reach the affected site at their earliest and commence relief work.

Khan expressed sympathy with the bereaved families over the deaths of their loves ones.

Read Heavy rains batter metropolis

Meanwhile, seven members of a family were buried under the rubble after the roof of a house collapsed in Abbottabad’s Kakul area. Three bodies were recovered while two injured had been retrieved from the debris as the rescue operation continued.

Rescue 1122 said the roof of the house collapsed due to heavy rain.

In late July, intermittent rains and flash floods in the hilly areas of K-P claimed six lives while seven persons were injured in different rain-related incidents, according to Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Two children of a family died in their sleep, while three minors, the house owner and his wife sustained several injuries after the roof of their house collapsed in Kamal Khel village of district Kohat due to heavy downpour in the city.

Other reports indicated that seven people went missing after being swept away in the rain drain near Kohat. In the Upper Dir district, a tourist vehicle was swept away in the rain drain, killing two people.

In a similar incident in November 2019, some 18 people were killed by lightning strike in Thar.

With input from APP