At least 17 dead as torrential rains hit KP
PESHAWAR: At least 17 people died and over 25 were injured in rain-related incidents as torrential showers battered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak, Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on Saturday, according to KP Rescue 1122.
The emergency rescue service’s director general, Dr Khateer Ahmad, confirmed the death toll in an official statement, that said roofs and walls of several houses had collapsed due to heavy rain and windstorms, according to Dawn.com.
Separately, a statement issued by the KP Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement spokesperson said the department’s secretary had issued directives to expedite the rescue work.
“The affected people will be provided relief in line with government policies,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, KP interim Information Minister Barrister Feroze Jamal Kakakhel said in a statement the provincial government was in touch with district administrators in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak.
Hospitals in the affected areas had been put on high alert while Rescue 1122 and the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) were conducting rescue operations, he said. The statement added that an assessment of rain losses was also being carried out.
Weather forecast
According to a Met Office forecast shared by the PDMA on Saturday evening, “very hot and dry weather” is expected in most districts of KP over the next 24 hours.
But there were chances of wind/dust storms and isolated rain-thunderstorm in most plain areas of the province in the evening and at night, the statement said.
It added that isolated spells of rain and wind/thunderstorms were expected in Chitral, Lower and Upper Dir, Buner, Swat, Shangla, Kohistan, Torghar, Battagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram and Waziristan districts in the evening and at night.
Wind/dust storms may cause damage to loose infrastructure in Kurram, Hangu, Orakzai, North and South Waziristan, Tank, Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Charsadda, Peshawar, Khyber and Nowshera districts, the statement said.
“All concerned authorities are advised to remain alert during the forecast period,” it said.