ISLAMABAD: A fresh spell of heavy rain has wreaked havoc in Pakistan, killing at least 17 people, including women and children, while injuring dozens others during the last 24 hours, rescue officials and local media said on Saturday.
Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province was the worst hit by the torrential rain, where at least 12 people lost their lives in separate incidents, while several others were injured, Jawad Khalil, emergency official of the KP emergency rescue service Rescue 1122 in Peshawar district told Xinhua.
Owing to widespread rain, at least 10 houses and a school building were damaged, and serious damage to standing crops has been reported in the province, he said. At least five people, including two children, were killed and dozens others injured in different parts of the country’s east Punjab province and southwest Balochistan province.
Provincial disaster management authorities of KP and Punjab provinces have also issued an alert in a wake of harsh weather and possible flooding, advising all concerned authorities to take precautionary measures during the forecast period to avoid loss of life and damage to property.
The continuous rain and recent cold wave also paralyzed normal life in the country as locals are facing problems of low pressure of natural gas and electricity disruption due to technical problems and tripping of several grid stations. In some areas, several electric poles fell due to thunderstorm and rain.
Heavy rain and snow also affected the normal flow of traffic at national highways. Roads became slippery that caused several accidents.
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued an alert for the new spell of rainfall in most parts of the country from Wednesday and forecasted that the ongoing rainy spell is expected to continue till Saturday.
Under the influence of this weather system, rain with thunderstorm is expected in all districts of KP, Islamabad, and several districts of Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh provinces, said the notification from the PMD. (AGENCIES)
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