Torrential rains: Landsliding claim 11 more lives in KP

PESHAWAR: At least 11 more people have died while several have been injured in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sources said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Rescue 1122 service in Bunir, Taj Mohammad, said that a woman and two children were killed, and three others injured at Chagharzai, and a roof collapse in the Ryal area of Bunir caused another woman to lose her life.

Rescue officials said four other people died when landslides in Hussain Banda in Oghi tehsil, Mansehra destroyed their house. Two other people were also injured.

Heavy boulders were displaced by the rains and floods, striking a house in the district’s Rashang area, and two girls aged between nine and 12 lost their lives.

Mohammad Azeem, a 30-year-old local, drowned in the Nandyar river in Battagram while trying to gather wood.

Upper Kohistan DC Arif Yousafzai reported similar losses, with around 10-15 houses, a mosque and a seminary having been damaged in the rains, while link roads of the entire Kandia tehsil were blocked. Water supply schemes had also been damaged, he added.

DC Shangla Imran Hussain Ranjha said many roads in the district suffered major infrastructural damage due to flash floods. Specifically, one kilometer stretch of the Karora-Ajmer road was flooded while other major and link roads were also damaged.

The flash floods swept away a suspension bridge connecting Damorai with Banda, Ranjha said. Construction and Works department has already begun efforts to clear the roads, but the continuous rainfall is hindering the progress, he added.

Houses situated near rivers have been evacuated due to the flow of water was increasing, according to Bisham Assistant Commissioner Khurram Rehman.

At least two more people were killed and seven others injured in the Shangla district due to heavy rainfall just a day earlier.

Last Friday, at least 20 people were killed and nine suffered injuries in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to flash floods caused by cloudbursts.