PESHAWAR: As the first spell of monsoon rains hit several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, four people were killed and 36 injured in downpour-related incidents.
The casualties were reported in Upper Dir, Khyber, Shangla, Mardan and Bajaur districts.
At least 21 female students were injured in a stampede as lightning struck near their Upper Dir seminary during heavy rain. Besides, separate rain-related incidents and road accidents in the district also left one child dead and several people injured.
According to Wari DSP Fakhar Alam, around 250 students were present at the Jamia Hafsa LilBanat in the Osorai Dara area at the time of the incident. The lightning strike triggered panic, causing a stampede that injured 21 students. The rescue teams shifted the injured to the Wari Hospital, where doctors said they allwere out of danger.
In Lower Dir district, a girl was injured after a wall collapsed in Walai Kandao area, while a boy suffered injuries after being struck by a falling concrete block in Munda tehsil.
In another incident, a child waskilled and several people were injured when a passenger coach collided with a mini-truck in the Gulabad area of Adenzai tehsil.
Separately, three people were injured in a collision between a passengercoachandacarinthe Khongi area of Lower Dir.
Rescue 1122 personnel provided emergency medical assistance before transporting the injured to a nearby hospital.
The rain brought relief from the heat in Upper and Lower Dir districts by lowering tempera-tures. However, swollen streams disrupted traffic on link roads, while thunderstorms led to prolonged power outages in many areas. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority said two children were killed and three injured in a lightning strike in the Bazar Zakhakhel area of Khyber tribal district.
Similarly, a woman was killed and another suffered injuries after being washed away in flash flood in Puran tehsil of Shangla district.In the early hours of Wednesday, a cloudburst followed by torrential rain unleashed widespread destruction across multiple villages in both Lower and Upper Chitral districts, leaving dozens of families homeless.
Massive damage to public property was reported in several villages of Broze, Ayun and Drosh areas in Lower Chitral as well as in Phask, Khruzg and Lasht area of the Yarkhoon valley in Upper Chitral.
Nearly 100 houses were partially damaged, while two mosques were destroyed.
Severe flooding occurred in the streams and nullahs of Goldeh, Seen Kurum and Kor villages in Broze and Muldeh areas of Ayun and Osiak of Drosh.
The downpour destroyed standing crops of maize, rice and sorghum, while pear, apple, grape, peach and pomegranate orchards were damaged.
Also, dozens of domestic animals, including cows, were either swept away by the raging floodwaters.
A shortage of drinking water was reported in several areas as pipelines were washed away and natural springs and streams were inundated.The floodwaters also blocked the main Chitral-Peshawar Road in Broz, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides.
The National Highway Authority deployed heavy machinery to restore traffic.
Lower Chitral deputy commissioner Rao Mohammad Hashim Azim said both food and non-food items had been dispatched to the affected villages.
Also, the upper parts of Hazara Division received heavy rainfall.
The rain started at around 5pm and continued intermittently for the rest of the day in Mansehra, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas districts, providing relief from the prolonged heatwave.
District emergency officer Ibrar Ali warned water levels in rivers and streams could rise rapidly due to glacier melting.
The downpour also lashed upper parts of Swat Valley, especially Matta, Bahrain and Jambil valleys, significantly lowering temperatures. Mingora received light rain. The Kokarai stream in Jambil Valley recorded a lowlevel flooding. The closure of link roads along swollen streams was reported in Bajaur tribal district.-Dawn Report