22 killed as rain, flash floods wreak havoc in Pakistan’s KP and Punjab province

ISLAMABAD: At least 22 people were killed and scores of others injured as downpour and flash floods battered parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Widespread rains lashed Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Mardan divisions while southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its adjacent tribal areas received light showers.
Abbottabad town received 90mm of rainfall, Malam Jabba ? a tourist resort in Swat district 44mm, Peshawar 20mm, Risalpur 21mm, Cherat 19mm, Kohat 2mm, Saidu Sharif 9mm, Dir 9mm and Pattan 18mm, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.
It has issued an alert for glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Chitral district and asked the authorities concerned to adopt precautionary measures. Flash floods claimed 29 lives in Chitral on July 2.
According to a statement issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), three people lost their lives in Abbottabad and two in Upper Dir in rain-related incidents. Three people were injured in the two districts. It said two houses in Haripur and one residential quarter in Abbottabad collapsed.
The Met office said Five people and 17 others suffered injuries when a passenger van plunged into a deep ravine in the Nakka Kalley area of Orakzai agency.
Two children were swept away in floodwater in Wari sub-division of Upper Dir. Body of a girl, who drowned in a stream in Narhand Khwar area, was recovered. The body was shifted to Wari hospital for identification. Life came to a grinding halt in Abbottabad district, where three people were killed and as many injured in rain-related incidents. Damage to properties was also reported in parts of Galiyat and Abbottabad city. Power supply was disrupted in different areas of the district. Roof of the house of one Mohammad Yousaf caved in, killing his two sons ? 12-year-old Ihsanullah and seven-year-old Imranullah. His wife Zulekha Bibi was taken to the DHQ Hospital, Abbottabad, with injuries A Fifteen-year-old girl was buried alive after the roof of her house collapsed in Lora area. It started raining on Tuesday night and continued till Wednesday afternoon. Several houses collapsed in Bilal Town, Hassan Town, PMA Kakul road, Sethi Masjid locality and Narian area. Heavy rain lashed northeast Punjab province from Lahore to Rawalpindi, leaving seven people dead and 38 others injured.
Regional tributaries of River Chenab swelled after the rainfall in the Sialkot region. The Met department forecast medium to high flood in the region over the next 24 hours. A peak of high to very high flood is expected in River Jhelum [upstream Mangla] and medium to high in River Chenab during this period. The worst hit was Gujranwala where the Met department reported a record 199mm of rain by 8pm. Four people were killed in Sialkot and two in Gujrat in rain-related incidents. One person was killed and 18 others were injured in rain-related incidents in Rawalpindi. According to the Met department, Gujrat received 158mm of rain (also a record), Sialkot (Cantt 123mm, airport 110mm), Rawalpindi (Chaklala 88mm, Shamsabad 84), Islamabad (Golra 88mm, Z.P. 85mm, Bokra 60mm, Saidpur 33mm), Jhelum 77mm, Mangla 74mm, Murree 56mm, Mandi Bahauddin 55mm, Joharabad 54mm, Sargodha 49mm, Chakwal 29mm and Kakul 79mm. The Met department forecast rain-thunderstorm accompanied by gusty winds with isolated heavy falls at a number of places in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Sahiwal divisions, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Fata and Kashmir on Thursday and Friday. Scattered rain was also expected in Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Zhob, Kalat, Nasirabad, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan. The expected heavy downpour may cause flash floods and landslides in the vulnerable areas of Punjab, KP and Gilgit-Baltistan. (AGENCIES)

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