Islamabad: As many as eight people were killed and 14 others were injured in rain-related incidents in Gujranwala, Narowal, Pakpattan and Lahore cities of Pakistan’s Punjab province, local media reported on Wednesday.
At least six people, mostly children, were killed and 10 others were injured in rain-related incidents in Gujranwala city. Meanwhile, a trailer fell into a ditch after slipping due to the rain on GT Road Bypass in Gujrat. According to the rescue officials, the fatalities and injuries were caused by the roof and wall collapse as well as drowning in the pond or electrocution, Pakistan’s daily Dawn reported.
Two minor children died and their mother suffered injuries when the roof of their house collapsed in the rain in Pakpattan. Meanwhile, four workers were injured after the roof of a factory collapsed in Gulshan-e-Ravi area of Lahore.
The main roads and nearby areas in Gujrat and Gujranwala cities were submerged due to rainwater after 10 hours of downpour. The commercial activities and the daily life was disrupted in Gujrat and Gujranwala. The Gujranwala city was the most affected due to the heavy rains and the excavation on GT Road for the construction of the metro bus route between Eminabad and Gakhar Mandi, Dawn reported.
Earlier on Monday, nine people were killed as torrential rains and flash floods wreaked havoc in Khyber and several other districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Fatalities were reported in Khyber, Mardan and Bajaur while flash floods and cloudbursts damaged roads, bridges, houses, shops, fish farms, orchards, crops and public infrastructure in Mansehra, Abbottabad, Chitral, Shangla and other districts, suspending traffic movement and disrupting electricity and communication networks, Pakistan-based daily ‘The News International’ reported.
“The bodies of two young men were recovered in Landikotal, while the bodies of four others, including a woman and a child, were recovered from different areas of Jamrud,” The News International quoted Rescue 1122 spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi as saying.
He said two children were killed after the roof of a house collapsed during heavy rain in Mardan while another person died in Bajaur, increasing the death toll to nine. A video of a man requesting for help while trapped in floodwaters in Khyber district went viral on social media. He was eventually swept away by the strong current.
Roads and houses were damaged and traffic movement was disrupted for several hours after flash floods triggered by cloudbursts during monsoon rains wreaked havoc in Landikotal, Torkham and other parts of Khyber district.
The Pakistan-Afghanistan highway remained shut for several hours after flash floods inundated roads at nine places where seasonal streams rose to dangerous levels, The News International reported. According to residents, a vehicle carrying Afghan people was swept away by flash floods in Landikotal while two other vehicles were submerged in flood waters near Zakaria Mosque in Landikotal and Sultankhel village. Local residents rescued the people who were travelling in the vehicles.
(IANS)
