At least 12 members of same family killed as landslide buries home in Upper Dir

A landslide triggered by continuous heavy rains in Upper Dir situated in Kumrat Valley has claimed the lives of all 12 members of a single family.

The incident occurred late at night on Thursday when the landslide struck a house in the Patarak area of Upper Dir district, located in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province.

According to the police, the deceased includes nine children, two women, and one man.

The ongoing rain and darkness severely hampered the rescue operations.

Local residents, along with personnel from Rescue 1122 Upper Dir, police, Dir Levies, and Civil Defence, participated in the rescue efforts.

Despite the challenging conditions, all the bodies were eventually recovered from the rubble.

The police confirmed that after significant difficulties, the rescue teams were able to retrieve the bodies of those who had been trapped and killed in the landslide.

The entire community is mourning the loss of these lives, as the region continues to grapple with the impact of the relentless monsoon rains.

Heavy rains have battered India and Pakistan's coastal areas along the Arabian Sea, flooding cities in western India's Gujarat state and forcing thousands of people from their homes, with authorities predicting a cyclonic storm to develop by Friday (today).

At least 28 people have died this week from rain-related incidents in the state, officials said, as meteorologists in India and neighbouring Pakistan warned that more heavy downpours and strong winds were expected to lash the coast.

More than 18,000 have been evacuated since Sunday from cities near the coast, disaster management authorities said.

The army was also involved in relief efforts in the state which was hit in last year by cyclone Biparjoy, damaging infrastructure and leading to the evacuation of more than 180,000 people.

A deep depression off Gujarat is expected to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Friday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, but it was forecast to move away from the Indian coast over the next two days.

In Pakistan, the weather department warned fishermen to not venture into the sea until Saturday.

Rain also triggered flash floods in the neighbouring port city of Karachi, causing power outages, media reported.

Pakistani authorities have also warned of flash floods in two districts of the southern province of Sindh, which is still recovering from the massive floods of 2022 which inundated large swathes of the country and damaged the economy.