PESHAWAR: A vehicle carrying Afghan families returning to the neighbouring country was swept away in a flash flood triggered by rains in the Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district on Monday, Rescue 1122 said.
Rescue workers have so far recovered the bodies of three people travelling in the car, the emergency service said, adding that the search for the others was under way.
Rescue 1122 said in an initial statement that the vehicle was swept away near Sultan Khel Market, following which rescue teams were dispatched to the site and a search operation was launched.
In subsequent statements, it said the bodies of a woman and a man were found by Rescue 1122 divers, who had the assistance of local residents, in the Jamrud town, while the body of a child was recovered from the Parang Sang area.
During the search, rescue personnel also found the body of a man who was identified as a resident of Jamrud.
Separately, the roof of a room collapsed in Mardan’s Kalu Dheri village, leaving two children dead, according to Rescue 1122.
The emergency service said in a statement that the children’s mother and 14-year-old sister were injured in the incident. The injured were shifted to Mardan Medical Complex Hospital, it added.
Last week, the Pakistan Meteorological Department had predicted widespread rains in the country for this week, with showers expected in Khyber, Mardan and several other areas of KP between July 19 and July 23.
Emergency meeting
In light of the forecast, Shah Fahad, Rescue 1122’s director general in Khyber, chaired an emergency online meeting to review the weather situation and directed all district emergency officers to remain on high alert, the emergency service’s statement detailing the meeting said.
According to the statement, he issued directives to ensure service delivery in accordance with the approved comprehensive plans.
The statement further quoted him as saying that rescue personnel, emergency vehicles, rescue boats and specialised equipment had been deployed in all districts for emergency response while rescue personnel and equipment had also been also deployed at temporary water rescue points.
“Rescue 1122’s water rescue teams are continuously patrolling rivers, streams, nullahs and waterways,” he said, adding that citizens were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from rivers and rain-fed waterways, and contact the 1122 helpline in case of emergencies.
He said awareness was being raised about weather-related risks, flash floods and precautionary measures through loudspeakers.
For its part, the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) said a control room had been established at the company’s headquarters on the directives of Pesco Chief Executive Akhtar Hameed Khan, while operational teams had been placed on high alert in anticipation of rains.
The power utility also advised consumers to stay away from electricity poles, wires and transformers, avoid walking through water accumulated near electrical installations, refrain from touching electrical appliances with wet hands, and report faults instead of attempting repairs themselves.
Houses, shops, roads damaged in AJK
Earlier, two houses were completely wiped out by heavy rains in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Neelum district on Sunday.
According to a report released by the office of the Neelum deputy commissioner late on Sunday, 16 houses have been partially damaged due to rain. The report said that 44 shops, two vehicles and 13 motorcycles have also been damaged.
It further added that according to initial reports, 16 link bridges, 12 electricity poles, one mosque and a private school’s building had also been destroyed.
Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Iqbal Hassan told Dawn on Monday that relief items were being provided to the occupants of the two houses that were destroyed.
He added that part of a link road had also been wiped out by the floods and work was under way to remove debris from the site.
The Met Office has forecast showers in several areas of AJK between July 18 and July 25.
Additional reporting by Tariq Naqash
