ISLAMABAD: Seven people were killed and over two dozen others sustained injuries on Tuesday as severe rain and windstorms swept through parts of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

This is the second time in a week that a storm of such intensity wreaked havoc in many parts of the country, damaging crops, properties, and other infrastructure. At least 19 people were killed and over 90 others injured as powerful windstorms and heavy rains had battered many areas in Islamabad, Punjab and KP on Saturday.

On Tuesday, two people were killed and around 20 injured after a thunderstorm swept through various parts of Punjab. The storm,accompanied by heavy rainfall, strong winds, and hail, caused widespread destruction.

According to Rescue 1122, a passenger van overturned due to rain and dust storm on GhaziLawrencepur Road near Ghazi Interchange in Attock, which resulted in the death of one passenger and left five others injured.

Separately, four children aged between nine and 12 years were injured when the wall of their house collapsed during the windstorm in Rehmo village of Attock district. Also, a 25-yearold woman received multiple injuries when the roof of her house collapsed in the same area.

An 11-year-old girl was critically injured when the wall of her house in Saghirabad area of Attock collapsed.

According to the Rescue 1122`s provincial headquarters, a manwas killed after lightning struck him in Mianwali`s Kalabagh.

The district experienced multiple emergencies including a wall collapse that left one person injured at the Makkharwal police station and a falling solar panel that injured another resident.

In Gujranwala, a young girl fell from roof due to powerful gusts.

In Taunsa Sharif, a woman was injured when the wall of her house collapsed.

Three people, including two children, were injured in Rawalpindi as gusty winds battered the garrison city in the afternoon.

According to the PDMA, these extreme conditions are likely to persist through May 31, with upper and central Punjab districts including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala and Faisalabad, facing thehighest risk.

Two killed in KP In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two people lost their lives and another 10 sustained injuries in rain-related incidents.

Rains lashed many areas of the province, leaving several people injured.

A child died while four others were injured in a roof collapse incident in Swabi. Another person died and three members of the same family were injured in a lightning strike in Shangla district. In the Mattani area of the provincial capital, three persons were injured when the roof of their house collapsed, while another one was injured in another rainrelated incident in the Badershi area of Nowshera district.

The upper parts of the Hazara division on Tuesday received heavy downpour and snowfall, blocking the Karakoram Highway to all sorts of traffic at two locations in the Lower Kohistan.

`The floodwater carrying heavy rocks and stones from nearby mountains blocked the Karakoram Highway at two points in our district,` Mohammad Duraj, an official from Rescue 1122, Lower Kohistan, told reporters. Babusar Top, the highest point in the Kaghan Valley, received heavy snowfall, significantly dropping temperatures across the district.

KP`s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in a statement issued here said that the spell will continue till May 30. It said the rain caused widespread damage to the crops.

PDMA said wheat, vegetables and fruit crops were badly damaged in Mardan and its surrounding areas due to the hailstorm. Besides, rains also disrupted the power supply across the province as 113 of Peshawar Electric Supply Company tripped due to rain and thunderstorm.

Three killed in AJK In Kashmir, three women lost their lives and a man went missing while several properties were damaged after a `cloudburst-induced flood` wreaked havoc in a suburban area of Muzaffarabad on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Saeed Qureshi, a senior director at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), told Dawn that the `cloudburst` triggered a flood in a water channelin Balgran village, located around 35 kilometres from Muzaffarabad on the right bank of the Neelum River, at about 4pm.

Among the victims were Zaiwar Jan, 75, and her daughter Shireen Bibi, 35, who died when the raging current swept into their house and filled it with mud.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Panjgran Iftikhar Awan, who spoke to Dawn from the affectedvillage, said the mother`s body was recovered immediately, while the daughter`s body was later pulled from the debris.

In another severely affected house nearby, rescuers found 35-year-old Gori Bibi critically injured and unconscious. She was rushed to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Patikka, where she succumbed to her injuries later in the evening.

Gori Bibi`s father, 65-year-old Jalal Deen, was reported missing.

`We have been trying to locate him, but to no avail,` said SHO Awan.

Videos shared by residents showed muddy water gushing through the ground floor of the village`s main mosque, which was built almost along the course of the water channel, where water flow is usually minimal. According to SHO Awan, the flood, which lasted for about half an hour, completely destroyed the mosque.

Mr Qureshi from the SDMA said initial assessments indicated partial damage to 20-25 houses and the mosque. However, SHO Awan feared that the figure could be higher. `At the moment, our priority is to assess the human losses. Material damages will be evaluated in daylight on Wednesday,` he said.

Separately, in Islamabad, the district administration decided to move billboards out of the city after a hoarding fixed at the National Press Club collapsed due to a windstorm that had also uprooted several trees.

Imran Gabol in Lahore, Manzoor Ali in Peshawar, Amjad Iqbal in Taxila, Aamir Yasin in Rawalpindi, Ikram Junaidi in Islamabad, and Tariq Naqash in Muzaffarabad contributed to this report