اردو
  • KP mini cyclone deaths rise to 45

    Death toll from Sunday’s storms and torrential rains, that struck various cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has mounted to 45, as heavy downpour continued in Punjab and country’s northwestern upper parts.

    Fallen trees, rubble from buildings and mobile phone towers had blocked several main roads, while flood water from torrential rainfall had reached three feet (one metre) deep in some parts of Peshawar city, home to more than three million people.

    In Peshawar alone, the death toll has risen to 30 and nearly 200 people have been injured, local government officials and police confirmed.

    According to reports pouring in from Charsadda and its neighboring areas, unusually heavy downpour caused many houses to cave in resulting in the deaths of at least ten people.

    The rain-related accidents also left dozens more injured. At least five people lost their lives in Nowshera in different rain-related incidents, sources told. Peshawar’s main Lady Reading Hospital was full of people injured in rain-related incidents as emergency was declared in the hospital.

    Mushtaq Ali Shah, director of the provincial meteorological department, described the storm as a "mini cyclone with wind speeds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour)".

    He added the cyclone had lost speed but heavy rainfall was expected in the province's northern districts over the next three to four hours. Rescue operations were being hampered by the blocked roads and disrupted communications due to the collapse of mobile towers.

    Military was also called in to boost rescue efforts, equipped with ground penetrating radars, concrete cutters and sniffer dogs, according to a tweet by the army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa.

    Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his grief over the loss of life and property. Safety standards, particularly in construction, are very lax in nuclear-armed but economically underdeveloped Pakistan.

    Many of the more than 200 killed in last year's heavy monsoon rains died after roofs collapses.