Four people were killed while one person was injured on Sunday as flash floods swept across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner, Malakand and Mansehra areas, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
At least 22 people have been killed and 11 others have been injured in KP in accidents related to rain, strong winds, flash floods and landslides since June 25, according to PDMA reports. Heavy rainfall and flash floods have wreaked havoc in the province, while 18 people were swept away along the Swat River due to a sudden surge in the gushing water.
Additionally, PDMA warned on Friday that the risk of glacial lake outburst flood (Glof) — the sudden release of water and debris from a glacial lake — has increased in glacial areas of the province due to increasing temperatures, which in turn has raised the risk of additional flooding.
Today’s report from the PDMA outlined that four people were killed in KP while another was injured due to heavy rainfall and flash floods, according to the PDMA’s reporting officers in Malakand and Hazara divisions.
The PDMA said that three rooms in a house in the Buner district’s Teenolo Dheri village collapsed, killing a woman and injuring a man. Separately, in Buner, a temporary bridge pillar at Faizabad Khwar was swept away.
In Malakand, a flash flood caused by heavy rainfall swept through the Heero Shah union council, killing three people.
According to the PDMA report, one woman and two children were swept away. The woman and one of the children drowned.
“Rescue 1122 recovered [a] female body, while two children are still missing,” the report read, adding that a rescue operation was underway.
Rescue 1122 later issued an update stating that one of the children had been rescued.
Meanwhile, Dargai Assistant Commissioner (AC) Shahbaz Khan told Dawn.com that a woman and her grandson drowned in the Zor Mandi nullah as they were crossing it.
“Both bodies were recovered by Rescue 1122 and moved to Dargai hospital,” he stated.
Dargai Additional AC Waheedullah told Dawn.com that there was heavy rain in the mountains of Kot and the Hiro Shah Dargai area in the morning.
“Flash floods occurred in small, dry nullahs originating from the mountains and leading to small streams,” he said. “A nine-year-old boy was swept away by the flash flood in a small dry nullah. His grandmother, around 55-years-old, tried to save him but was also swept away.
The additional AC said that a rescue operation was launched immediately and that the boy’s body was recovered from the Pir Kalay Harichan Charsadda/Badragga Malakand boundary, while the body of the woman was recovered from the Zormandi Quaidabad area.
Additional AC Waheedullah further said that he was present in the field and people were discouraged from approaching or crossing the nullahs through announcements and the deployment of Levies personnel.
Additionally, three cows were rescued from flash floods in the Zormandi area.
“The bodies are being transported to Arang Bajaur and an ambulance from Rescue 1122 was arranged,” Waheedullah added.
In Mansehra, the PDMA stated in its report that an an 18-year-old resident of Rawalpindi had drowned in a flash flood in Putwar Halqa Jabba which was caused by heavy rain.
Amir Khadam, spokesperson for Rescue 1122 in Mansehra, told Dawn.com that the young man drowned when he was crossing a nullah in the Mansehra district with his motorcycle on Sunday morning.
“The body of the deceased was recovered from floodwater in the Ghotar area and was turned over to his heirs,” Khadam said.
The PDMA added that due to the heavy rainfall, landslides were reported in Buner’s Pandriks union council and Torghar district’s Tharala area. Both events caused traffic blockages and heavy machinery was deployed to clear the roads.