Five killed in rain-related incidents

CHITRAL/DIR: Five persons were killed and two injured in Chitral and Upper Dir as rain continued to batter parts of Khyber Pakh­tun­khwa on Saturday.

Two persons were killed and a number of houses collapsed during torrential rains in the Lower and Upper Chitral districts.

Several vital roads, including Chitral-Peshawar Road, Booni-Torkhow Road, Garam Chashma Road and others remained closed for traffic due to flooding in the area.

Local sources said that dozens of tourists, who had come to scenic Bamburet in Kalash valley, also stranded as Bamburet Road remained blocked at several points

due to landslides near Ayun village.

They added that Chitral-Peshawar Road at Kochan Goal in Ashret, Kardam Goal point in Drosh and Chomorkhon were blocked by the sludge left by the flooding in streams.

The local volunteers rescued the vehicle of a non-local trapped in the mire of flooding at Chomorkhon.

According to local police, two houses collapsed in the Chewodok area due to continuous rain in which a woman was killed while several others sustained injuries.

They said that the personnel of police and Rescue 1122 rescued a trapped child from the debris of a collapsed house. She had sustained minor injuries. The police said that the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for medical treatment.

Similarly, a grazer died when he fell from a hill in Istaro village in Upper Chitral district while two houses caved in in Bakarabad Bala but luckily the incident caused no loss of life or injuries to the inmates.

Also, boulders from the hills fell on houses in Koghozi village situated at Chitral-Booni Road, and Rambur in Kalash valley but, fortunately, the inmates remained unharmed. The busy Chitral-Booni and Garam Chashma roads remained blocked for vehicular traffic due to land-sliding at Nirdet, Kari and Shachar points and Bilphok, Andakhti and several other points.

Similarly, the roads in Karimabad, Arkari and Susoom were blocked by rock-sliding in Lotkoh valley. The road linking Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan was also blocked by land-sliding caused by the two-day heavy downpour.

There are also reports about heavy snowfall in Reech, Terich, Laspur and Yarkhun valley in Upper Chitral and Gobor area in Lower Chitral. The landslide also blocked the Chitral Airport Road and the local residents used Belch and other areas Lenaik Road. Cracks also appeared in Chew Bridge which was constructed in 1980, prompting the authorities to block it for vehicular traffic.

In Upper Dir, three persons were killed and two others injured when landside hit a house in far-off Badari village of Wari tehsil.

Police officials said the one of the rooms of the house collapsed due to the landslide, burying five inmates under the debris.

They said the rescuers recovered three bodies and two injured persons. The injured were shifted to the hospital.

The communication system, including network of mobile phone service also remained suspended due to non-availability of electricity and solar batteries charging facility.

Meanwhile, the district administration has suspended the leave of government employees and they have been directed to report to their respective stations.

Meanwhile, the district administration in Swat launched efforts to clear the roads blocked due to the landslides in various parts of the district. Officials said that a landslide blocked a road at Tanazgah Aseerat area in Bahrain tehsil in the Swat district.

The director general Upper Swat Development Authority directed the officials to launch work to remove the debris and clear the road to traffic. The district administration has requested the tourists to avoid unnecessary travel to avoid inconvenience.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur also took notice of the closure of the Kalam-Bahrain road and asked the commissioner Malakand to direct the relevant officials to open the road to traffic. The chief minister said that all available resources should be utilised to facilitate the local people and the tourists visiting the area. He also directed the district administration and the Rescue 1122 officials to stay alert to ope with any eventuality.