15 dead in Swabi amid fresh monsoon spell
NDMA Chairman said two to three more spells of monsoon are expected and the current spell will continue till Friday.
SWABI ( WEB NEWS )
At least 15 people died in the Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after being swept away by flash floods.
The seventh spell of monsoon rains has wreaked havoc in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where heavy rains washed away roads , and landslides cut off access to mountainous areas.
According to reports, recent rains in Swabi triggered cloudbursts and landslides that caused widespread devastation. Several homes were submerged by flash floods, and many people were swept away.
Deputy Commissioner of Swabi Nasrullah Khan stated that 12 houses were submerged in Darorai village in Swabi after a cloudburst, resulting in the death of 15 people who were swept away in the flash flood.
He added that the flow of floodwaters from the cloudburst was extremely strong. Being a hilly area, landslides also occurred at various places.
Administration, rescue teams and other emergency services have been dispatched to the affected areas. Nasrullah Khan further said that additional rescue teams have been called in from Haripur and Mardan. He urged the people to volunteer to assist the affected people.
Gadoon is also facing a flood situation. People trapped by floodwaters have been rescued, with teams retrieving people from rooftops once the water level began to recede. Meanwhile, water accumulated on Jahangira Road, and in Tor Dher, the wall of a private school collapsed due to heavy rain.
In a separate incident, four people died and seven were injured when the roof of a house collapsed due to rain in the Gadoon Sar Koi Banda area of Swabi. The injured were shifted to the hospital in critical condition. Rescue sources said 11 people were present in the house at the time of the accident.
The deceased included 37-year-old Neelam, 40-year-old Naeema, 18-year-old Anees, and one-and-a-half-year-old Hadi.
NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik says the foremost priority of govt is to rescue the people & shift them to safer places
Briefing media persons in Islamabad on Monday along with Minister for Climate Change Senator Dr. Musadik Masood Malik and NDMA Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider, Attaullah Tarar said a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif reviewed the flood situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. Ongoing relief and rescue operations were also reviewed in the meeting.
He said coordination with provincial governments is being carried out in an effective manner.
Through the early warning system, NDMA had been regularly providing data to the relevant authorities.
In his remarks, the Minister for Climate Change said all-out efforts will be made to compensate the victims for their losses. He asked the provincial governments to campaign to permanently settle the people living alongside the rivers and nullahs in the mountainous areas to safer places.
The Chairman NDMA said the Authority is in constant coordination with the provincial governments to ensure timely assistance and effective response to the flood affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Giving the latest death toll, he said six hundred and seventy people have so far died and one thousand others injured due to rains, floods and landsliding.
He further said that more than four hundred and twenty flood relief camps have been activated in the flood affected areas.
He said two to three more spells of monsoon are expected and the current spell will continue till Friday. He said situation will normalize by the end of September.
Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik said the foremost priority of the government is to rescue the people and shift them to safer places.
He said the process of making assessment of damages caused by the floods will be started once the monsoon season will be over.