In K-P, Rescue Director General (DG) Peshawar confirmed that five children, a woman, and a man lost their lives, while five others sustained injuries in rain-related incidents in the Khyber district. Incidents of roof collapse were also reported in Peshawar, Lower Dir, and Bajaur, resulting in the unfortunate loss of human lives and livestock.
The Rescue DG expressed deep concern over the untold woes inflicted on the affected people, emphasising the challenges posed by the roof collapse incidents.
Tragedy struck in Lower Dir when a mudslide buried a house, leading to the death of three individuals. Rescue teams swiftly responded, recovering the bodies and transporting the injured to the hospital.
Khyber district experienced a third consecutive day of rain and snowfall, causing low-lying areas to be inundated and residents facing considerable difficulties in daily activities.
In Karachi, authorities declared a 'rain emergency' due to the ongoing unpredictable weather, while Lahore witnessed light rain in various areas, including Gulberg, Lahore Cantonment, and Mall Road. Other cities in Punjab, such as Kasur, Muridke, Phoolnagar, Sharaqpur, and Jhang, reported downpours, resulting in casualties and property damage.
Heavy rains, which have been continuing for the last one week across Balochistan, continued to pound miseries on the people on Friday, paralysing life in 22 out of 35 districts of the province.
The situation in Gwadar and Kech districts of Makran is the worst as hundreds of houses have collapsed, rendering a large number of families homeless.
Makran and other districts were completely cut off from other parts of the province due to damaged highways and inter-district roads.
Also, traffic between Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan and Islamabad was suspended on Friday when heavy rains triggered landslides blocking the highway near Dhanasar area of Sherani district of Balochistan.
Railway tracks between Noshki and Dalbandin washed away; Pak-Iran rail, road links severed
Officials said that trade through the land route between Pakistan and Iran was badly affected and hundreds of vehicles carrying import and export goods for Pakistan and Iran were struck up on both sides of the damaged bridge and roads.
Heavy rains continued to lash Noshki and Chagai districts on a third consecutive day. Areas close to Pak-Iran border and Afghanistan also received heavy rains which triggered flashflooding, washing away or damaging several connecting roads and suspending traffic.
Also, a large area of Baracha locality, close to Pak-Afghan border in Noshki, was badly affected as torrential rains sparked flood, completely paralysing life there.
Director General of Provincial Disaster Management Authority Aurangzeb Khan said that 22 districts of Balochistan have been badly affected by rains. Reports of house collapse, damaged roads and highways had been received, he said.
Three deaths have been reported so far in the current spell of heavy showers across the province.
Three children — two teenage girls and their brother — were killed when the roof of their mud house collapsed due to heavy rain in Kharan town of Rakhsan division, a senior official of the town administration told Dawn over the phone.
He said the father of the children was seriously injured in the incident.
In Makran, though the rain stopped after two days, floodwater was still standing in most parts of Gwadar, Jeweni and Kech district. The local administration in Gwadar faced the challenge of draining floodwater in the absence of heavy machinery to pump out water.
“From Shaheen Chowk to civil hospital area in Gwadar town is presenting the view of a big lake in which several hundred houses and shops can be seen under four to five feet of water,” Mohammad Yousaf Baloch, a local resident, told Dawn by phone.
He said that his house was submerged by floodwater and everything in the household was perished.“I have shifted my family to a friend’s home,” he said.
The founder of Haq Du Tehreek, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, who was elected as an MPA from the area in recent elections, visited the affected localities along with Gwadar Deputy Commissioner Aurangzeb Badini and other officials concerned.
He said the National Highway Authority and other officials have failed in restoring traffic on highways and inter-district roads, adding that passengers travelling in buses and other vehicles were stranded in Jeweni, Suntsar and Pleary areas of Gwadar district.
Gwadar, experiencing heavy rain, faced challenges as the drainage system and rescue infrastructure were severely affected, prompting residents to seek safer locations. In Sibbi and nearby areas, heavy rains persisted for 14 hours, leading to rising water levels in rivers and canals. The irrigation department issued a high alert, urging emergency rescue teams to be prepared for any unfortunate situation.
Northern mountainous areas, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), reported intermittent rain and snowfall, raising concerns about highway blockades due to snow and landslides.
As the country grapples with these unprecedented weather conditions, citizens are advised to exercise caution. Emergency services are on high alert, ready to respond to any untoward situation, as the nation unites to face the challenges posed by this severe weather onslaught.
Heavy snowfall, rain and freezing weather have claimed 15 lives and injured a dozen others in Afghanistan over the past 48 hours, spokesman for the national disaster authority Mullah Janan Saeq said Sunday.
According to Xinhua, the freezing weather with downpours and snowstorms has struck Badghis, Badakhshan, Faryab, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Helmand and Sari Pul provinces over the past four days and also killed countless cattle in some areas.
About 1,000 cattle have so far been died due to the cold spell and snowfall in the northern Faryab province.
Security forces have rescued 42 people who were stranded in snowstorms on a road in Aqcha district of Jawzjan province, provincial police spokesman Abdul Sattar Halimi said.
Heavy snowfall, chilly weather and heavy rain have also caused road blockade in some provinces as well as in the Salang Pass -- the essential highway connecting the national capital Kabul to nine northern provinces onward to central Asian states.
The Afghan meteorological department has predicated a snowfall and scattered rains along with flash floods in 32 out of the country's 34 provinces over the next 24 hours.
