At least 189 people lost their lives and several remained missing, since sudden floods wreaked havoc on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday, according to data from the Provincial Agency for Disaster Management (PDMA).
Since the end of June, the monsors of the monsoon have wreaked havoc throughout the country, especially the regions of KP and the north, triggering mortal floods, landslides and displacements, particularly in vulnerable areas, poorly drained or densely populated.
Deaths throughout the province included 163 men, 14 women and 12 children, with Buner witnessing the greatest number of deaths, 91, according to the PDMA. The data added that 45 houses, three schools and eight other structures were destroyed in the midst of the flood, with 26 houses destroyed only on Swat.
According to the PDMA report, “37 houses were partially destroyed and seven were completely destroyed.”
The report added that heavy rains in the area will continue intermittently until August 21.
“On the special instructions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s prime minister, help funds have been released for districts affected by rains and sudden floods,” reads the report.
“A total of RS5 billion for the districts most affected by floods have been released,” he added, stating that RS150m have been launched for Buner District, RS100m each for the districts of Bajaur, Battagram and Mansehra and RS50m for Swat.
The PDMA added that it ordered the relevant institutions and organizations that intensify the rescue efforts and sent letters to the district administrations to take precautions before the next climate.
Previously, the KP government sent a helicopter with supplies to the Bajaur district, but said it lost contact with the plane. Later he confirmed in a statement that the helicopter had crashed and two pilots and three crews were killed.
“As a result of this tragic accident, five passengers, including two pilots, were martyred,” said the statement, citing KP Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
“The provincial government has asked for a day of mourning tomorrow and the flags will fly to half a mast,” the statement added. “The rescue teams have been sent to the accident site and the martyrs will be buried with complete honors.”
In a previous statement, the CM was summoned by saying that contact with the helicopter was lost due to “bad weather.”
Buner’s attached commissioner, Kashif Qayum Khan Dawn.com that 78 people had lost their lives, while “several” were missing. A report of the daily PDMA situation seen by Dawn.com He confirmed the victims, with 75 men, two women and a child among the deceased.
He added that an emergency has been declared throughout the district as help efforts continue in areas affected by floods.
“Helicopters are being used to carry out rescue operations in remote and inaccessible regions,” he said, added that in Pir Baba Bazaar and the next neighborhood, the waters of the floods have completely immersed the area.
“A mosque in Gokand was destroyed and a large amount of cattle perished,” he added. “Several roads remain blocked, and the exact number of missing people has not yet been confirmed.”
The authorities said that the true figure would only be known once the waters of the floods retreated.
Other most impacted districts included Bajaur, located in the same Malakand division as Buner, where eight children were between 21 dead and eight were injured due to sudden floods, according to the PDMA report.
Incidents related to the rays took the lives of 15 men in Battagram, while 14 deaths and two wounds were reported in Mansehra due to floods.
In Swat, sudden floods and thunder strikes charged 11 lives, added the PDMA report. A ceiling collapse left five dead men and three injured in Lower Dir, while two men died and many were injured in a similar incident in Shangla.
The KP government said that a provincial rescue helicopter of the MI-17 government had reached Buner to evacuate people to safe areas.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Sohail, a media coordinator for rescue 1122, said Dawn.com So far more than 157 bodies have been recovered, while more than 100 people, including women and children, have been rescued and transferred to safe places.
“The situation is at its worst time and rescue operations continue in the affected areas, since the authorities work to reach stranded residents and relieve,” he said.
Talking with Geographical newsThe governor of KP, Faisal Karim Kundi, responded affirmative when asked if an emergency should be declared. An official notification for that has not yet been issued.
PTI Mna Gohaha Ali Khan, which is from the Buner district of the Malakand division, said Geographical news: “We have sent rescue equipment, but reaching points is also difficult.”
Buner district police officer (DPO) also told him Dawn.com In an earlier statement that 54 bodies were taken to a hospital in the Tehsil headquarters.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the relevant authorities to accelerate the rescue operation in the Battagram district. In a statement, he expressed pain for deaths and prayed for those who lost their lives in sudden flooding.
KP’s Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur spoke with Hazara Commissioner and Battagram DC on the phone and ordered that district administration officials arrive at the site to supervise rescue operations, said his government.
Floods cause ravages in Bajaur, Battagram, Mansehra
According to him Associated Press of PakistanThe Battagram assistant commissioner Muhammad Salem Khan said that the victims occurred after five houses were destroyed last night due to a ray strike in Neel Band Village, which is located on the border of the districts of Battagram and Mansehra.
In Bajaur today, there were “reports of several people injured in sudden floods”, which were caused by a cloud (heavy rain) in the village of Jabrarai de Salarzai Tehsil, “said rescue spokesman 1122 Bilal Ahmad Faizi Dawn.com.
“The 1122 rescue staff, with the cooperation of the residents, has so far recovered 16 bodies and rescued three injured from the debris and rainwater,” Faizi confirmed, indicating an earlier toll.
A search and rescue operation was being carried out under the supervision of the emergency officer of the District of Bajaur Amjad Khan since seven people were still missing, Faizi said, citing the premises. Deo Amjad Khan and the house of the station in charge personally supervised the operation, added rescue officer 1122.
The flood in Battagram affected the villages located in the border areas of Neel Band, Sarim and Malkal Gali, according to a statement issued by Battagram Spokesman Rescue 1122 Aziz Khan.
“The rescue efforts in progress face challenges due to intermittent rain and an almost total loss of mobile network coverage, which severely impact communication,” the statement explained.
In Lower Dir, five people died and four were injured when the roof of a house in the Suri Pao town of the Maidan area collapsed due to heavy rains, Faizi said.
Detailing the obstacles, the rescue official said: “The rescue team reached the scene after walking for three hours despite the heavy rains, flooded rails, difficult and bad roads.”
Yesterday, more than a dozen people were killed when the rains and floods dragged through the northern parts of the country, including Azad Jammu and Kashmira (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltist (GB).
In Muzaffrabad, a mass landslide in Sarli Sacha’s village hit a house, leaving six members of a buried and feared family dead. The torrential rains charged the lives of two more women in the districts of Ajk Bagh and Sudhnoti.
In GB, sudden floods killed at least eight people, and two are still in the Ghizer district, while they also devastated the villages in the areas of Khalti, Ishkoman and Yasin.
Similarly, a heavy downpour spell hit several parts of the Abbottabad district yesterday, triggering sudden floods that severely interrupted traffic flow and caused infrastructure damage.
At least 325 people, including 142 children, have died and another 743 have been injured since June 26 in sudden floods and torrential rains that have mistreated several parts of Pakistan, according to daily data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
More to follow
