Flashflood washes away bridge in Haripur
Two small hydro plants were washed away in the flood that struck Hassanabad. AFP
A bridge at Choi area in Tehsil Khanpur, District Haripur was washed away in the flashflood caused by torrential rain, cutting off nearly 50 mountain villages.
A hill torrent swept away a bridge in Choi. As many as 50 small villages situated on a mountain have been cut off from the rest of the district. Vehicles and people on both sides of the bridge were stuck after the collapse of the bridge. Another under-construction bridge being built on Haripur rain drain has also been cut off.
A big flashflood is being passed through the Choi area and due to its intense speed, no rescue effort could be carried out so far. Torrential rain that poured down last night pounded Takht Nusrati area in Karak as two people were drown and 14 others injured in flashfloods and other rain-related incidents.
Most affected areas
Takht Nusrati main city, Hameedan Chowk, and Ambeeri Qila are the main affected areas. According to rescue officials, two people were drown in flashfloods. They pulled out body of one man but the second person was still missing. As many as 14 people got hurt in roof collapse and hill torrent incidents in the area.
Rescue operations could not be carried out due to the rapid flow of water. Later, a temporary road was constructed by digging soil with heavy machinery from where transport was resumed. The roof of the mud house collapsed due to rain, however, no casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, the Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) administration Wednesday categorically rejected the allegation of mismanagement during the heavy downpour and sharing of the footage in a tweet regarding the flooding and said that it is an attempt of disinformation against the ATH and the KP government.
The administration has clarified that this footage is of last year's flooding and no such thing happened during the current monsoon season in Abbottabad, the news on social media is totally baseless.
The hospital has taken all necessary precautionary measures with the support of district administration and we expected that no such incident would happen in the future at ATH. The management of the ATH is working with the district administration to resolve the issue, and various major drains of the hospital have been cleared.
With additional input from APP
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2022.