High Asia Herald
Two persons were injured after lightning hit two houses in Torghar and Malakand districts
News Desk
At least 19 people including 14 members of a family perished and two were injured in rain, lightning and landslides in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
Heavy rains that began on Wednesday wreaked havoc causing floods in rivers, authorities said.
At least 14 people from the same extended family were killed after lightning struck two adjoined houses, Kamran Bangash, the provincial spokesman, told AFP.
Flash floods have damaged four houses in the remote Jhatka village of Judba tehsil in Torghar, according to the region’s Assistant Commissioner Azhar Zahoor.
The dead included five children and four women, he added.
Local people and police recovered 14 bodies.
The head of the family of the deceased and his son are living in Karachi in connection with their job.
“I am personally supervising the rescue operation and the injured have been moved to the hospital and roads are also cleared for traffic. The affected families will be facilitated, and tents and foods will be provided to them,” the AC said.
Zahoor said that a cattle pen was also damaged due to the heavy rain, while a tractor overturned, killing its driver.
Furthermore, the rain caused landslides and road closures.
In another incident, a landslide destroyed a house in Abbottabad’s Kakul area, killing five people — a young girl and her parents among them. Two other people were injured.
A two-year-old girl was rescued.
The bodies and the injured were moved to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.
Several roads have been washed away due to the flooding caused by the rain, hampering relief efforts.