July 22, 2007	Sunday	Rajab 06, 1428

UPPER DIR, July 21: With rescue work in progress, the local authorities on Saturday put the death toll at 48 from the thunderstorm which hit three hamlets in the remote Usherai Darra area on Friday.

Local people claimed that 19 members of a family were among the deceased. Harsh weather conditions were hampering the rescue work being carried out mostly by locals.

There are still conflicting reports about the exact number of casualties in Banria Khaur-Nashnawal (Dir Upper) where lightning and flash floods washed away about two dozen houses and two mosques.

The authorities claimed that 48 people were killed, including 12 women and an equal number of children. However, scores of people including some people attending a jirga at a mosque have still been missing due to which the authorities feared that the death toll might rise.

“There were some jirga members in the mosque which was washed away but we don’t have the exact figure,” district coordination officer Dir Upper, Ajmal Khan said.

During a visit to the affected area the local people told Dawn that the jirga participants had left the mosque before floods hit the area. “About 50-60 persons were present in the mosque when it was hit by the flood as some passers-by also took shelter besides the jirga members,” a witness said.

The SHO concerned, Zafar Khan, said that 46 persons were confirmed dead. Later on, he informed that two more bodies were also recovered.

A woman, her daughter and a dog were pulled out of the debris of a house after about 24 hours of the incident.

Local people said that bodies of 12 women and 12 children were retrieved from the rubble of houses and from the Usherai River. Some of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition.

No rescue operation was launched by the government till 12:30pm on Saturday. The relief operation was also not initiated in the area and the victims were in a poor condition as they had no shelter, food and medicine, etc.

A large number of people including women and children rendered homeless and they have been moving to safer places.

Dir Upper district nazim Sahibzada Tariqullah said that the provincial government had assured him of all out support. “The chief minister has communicated to me that he would visit the area as soon as the weather improves,” he said.

Flanked by MPA Fareed Khan, he said that 500 tents, 1,000 blankets and two truckloads of foodstuff were on way to the area.

NWFP Health Minister Enayat Khan, who hails from Dir Upper, said that the provincial government had directed the district government to make purchases of the needed items. He said he would examine the situation and inform the government about the destruction and the problems being faced by the survivors.