Six die as rain lashes parts of K-P

Most of casualties reported in Bannu district

PESHAWAR/ LAKKI MARWAT/ BANNU:

High winds and heavy rains on Sunday lashed various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), causing flooding on roads and resulting in the death of at least six more people, including a child.

Bannu district was the worst affected where torrential rain inundated Kakki, Khejri, Howarth, Sorani, Pakka Bachak, Char Mari, Burge Pump, New Sabzi Mandi and Pir Khail Kakki areas.

According to Rescue 1122, four people died and 54 sustained injuries in various rain related incidents in Bannu. The dead and the injured were shifted to various hospitals in the district. The authorities have announced a state of emergence at all the three government hospitals of the city.

The rain and wind downed electric poles and wire and triggered roofs and walls collapse at many places, injuring three children in Sorani and one person in Khejri area. Five people were injured in another wall collapses incident in Char Mari.

According to officials, there was a possibility of an increase in the number of casualties. Most of these rain-related accidents took place in the suburban areas, they added.

In Lakki Marwat district, the roof of Tehsil Sarai Naurang Police Station caved in, causing injuries to one person. In Manjiwala area of the district, a truck—which was transporting goods from Peshawar to Karachi—lost control in heavy rain and overturned.

A man injured in the accident was shifted to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Sarai Naurang.

Due to heavy rain in the K-P’s provincial capital, a wall collapsed in the Badaber area. The roof of a mosque near Nishtarabad Commerce College caved in, while a number of trees were uprooted at the Peshawar Governor House.

Two people including a child died in these rain related incidents, while five sustained injuries.

K-P Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan expressed his condolences at the loss of lives. In a statement on Sunday, the chief minister expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families. He also expressed his wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured.

The chief minister directed the divisional and district administrations concerned to initiate immediate rescue operations at the affected places, provide relief to the affected families and take necessary steps to ensure timely medical aid to the injured.

“In this hour of difficulty, the provincial government is with the victims. They will not be left alone and they will be given all possible support,” he said in the statement.