Rain-related incidents kill 11 in Pakistan
By DPA, IANSTuesday, February 9, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Heavy rains in Pakistan’s north-western region and the Himalayan territory of Kashmir that is divided between India and Pakistan killed at least 11 people over the past 24 hours, officials said Tuesday.
The casualties occurred from collapse of houses and landslides caused by four consecutive days of downpour, which was triggered by a low pressure system emanating from the west.
A couple and their two children were killed when the roof of their house in the Khanpur town, located 50 km from the capital Islamabad, caved in early Tuesday, police said.
One child survived but sustained critical injuries, local police officer Mohammad Ejaz said.
Unrelenting rain in Pakistan-administered Kashmir caused several landslides, one of which struck a house in the Ranjata neighbourhood Monday, killing a woman and her infant son.
Three people were killed and two others injured in the region’s remote Danna village after their car skidded off a mountain track and fell into a gorge.
Mahmood Khan of the local disaster management authority said Tuesday that a swollen lake burst its banks in the Hattian Bala town, destroying nearly 30 houses. However, no casualties were reported.
The Himalayan region, which was devastated by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake in October 2005, received nearly quarter of a metre rain in just over 24 hours.
The rain also caused heavy damages in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.
A woman and her daughter were killed in the Bazaarkot area of Shangla district when their house was hit by a landslide Monday.
Portions of several main roads were washed away by raging torrents and landslide, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded.
Aviation authorities said an airliner with more than 110 people on board escaped disaster after it skidded off the tarmac at the airport in the provincial capital, Peshawar. All passengers and crew remained safe.
The wet spell, which came after months of dry weather, improved the situation at the country’s major reservoirs, partially allaying concerns about a severe water crisis.
