5 dead, 10 others wounded as rain lashes parts of K-P

Eight inhabitants survive roof collapse incident in the city

PESHAWAR/KOHISTAN:

At least five children died while 10 people were wounded in separate rain-related incidents in Peshawar and Kohistan on Thursday.

An insider familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune, two deaths were reported from Peshawar.



The first incident occurred in Sheikh Mohammadi area at around 6am when the roof of a house collapsed.

Noor Rehman, an Afghan national, had rented the house near Sheikh Muhammad grid station and the room was already in a dilapidated condition. The heavy downpour caused the roof of the room to collapse in the morning. As a result, seven-year-old Kainat, daughter of Shah Muhammad and  six-months-old Sana, daughter of Jabbar, were trapped under the debris and died. At least eight other inhabitants of the house were recovered alive and rushed to Lady Reading Hospital. Locals told The Express Tribune the house was affected by the deluge on Wednesday night.



“We were not expecting rain in Peshawar on Wednesday night, but Afghanistan received a lot of rain and the moisture came towards Peshawar, changing the weather at night,” Sailur Rehman, a meteorological assistant at Pakistan Meteorological Department told The Express Tribune.



Down the mountains

In Kohistan, three children died while their parents were injured when a heavy boulder fell on their house in Thotti Kandiya union council of the district, said the police on Thursday.

Muhammad Razi, 41, his wife Noor Bibi and their children – five-year-old Safina Bibi, eight-year-old Safiya Bibi and 12-year-old Abdul Haq – were in the house when a heavy boulder rolled down on their house, destroying it completely. The children died on the spot while their parents were critically injured. The wounded were rushed to the Hospital where the doctors said they were out of danger

The boulder that rolled down the hills and mountains in the district also destroyed four other houses. However, their inhabitants remained unhurt, said the police.



Screeched to a halt

The landslide caused by downpour kept Karakoram Highway blocked for the second consecutive day. Subsequently, traffic also remained suspended on the route. However, the district commissioner of Kohistan said machinery was sent to deal with the catastrophe and KKH would be re-opened by Friday (today).

Handy measures

The western weather system continued to affect parts of K-P on Thursday, causing rainfall and snowfall in Chitral, Dir, Shangla and Malakand –areas that were most affected by the earthquake on October 26.

The Met office in Peshawar said the weather system would continue and light rain will shower Malakand and Hazara divisions during the next 24 hours while the sky in the rest of the province will be clear.



Provincial Disaster Management Authority has directed the district administrations to relocate people from tents and shift them to government schools to protect them from the harsh weather.

PDMA Spokesperson Latifur Rehman told The Express Tribune, “We have asked the district administrations to relocate the affected people from the tents to schools if need be.” Rehman added the district administrations are instructed to utilise all available resources to reduce problems faced by the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2015.