Weather woes: Avalanche kills two women

SWAT: Two women were killed and a minor girl was injured by an avalanche triggered by heavy rains and snowfall at Dandnai Karal, a remote village of Khwazakhela tehsil, on Thursday, police and local people said. According to police, four members of a family — a man, his daughter and two women — were on way to their home when suddenly an avalanche hit them burying them under tons of snow in a remote hilly area. The man, identified as Mohammad Rasool, managed to come out from under the snow and tried to rescue the others. After a long time he was able to dig them out.  “The man came to the nearest hamlet and informed us; we all rushed to the spot where we found two women dead while the minor girl was severely injured,” Imdad Hussain, a resident of the Karal village, told the local reporters. The girl who was unconscious was rushed to a hospital where the doctors declared her out of danger. The bodies of the two women, identified as Farzana and Rang Mahal, were shifted to their village.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2013.