LANDI KOTAL/ABBOTTABAD, Aug 28: Heavy rains that lashed various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal regions on Sunday took eight lives in Khyber Agency and Abbottabad district.

Flash floods caused by the torrential rains also destroyed several houses, power pylons and other properties in different areas.

Four women and a child drowned in a stream and driver of a taxicab went missing while three women received injuries when torrential rains hit parts of Landi Kotal tehsil in Khyber Agency.

Officials said that four Afghan women and a child were swept away when flash flood hit and overturned a passenger stranded in the middle of a rain-swollen stream in Wali Khel area.

Three other Afghan women travelling in the same vehicle sustained injuries. They were taken to a local hospital. Bodies of those swept away were found downstream later, and were handed over to relatives.

Officials said that they took the driver of the coach into custody for showing negligence as he ignored the pleas of passengers not to take the risk of crossing the swollen stream. The driver was identified as Misri Khan, a resident of Jamrud.

In another incident in the same area, the driver of a taxicab went missing from the main Peshawar-Torkham Road after floodwaters swept away his cab and a pick-up vehicle in Wali Khel area.

Officials said that a woman was killed when roof of her house collapsed in Loe Shalman area. About four other houses were partially damaged in the same locality, they added.

In Meerdad Khel area, floodwater uprooted at least three electricity poles, which caused power suspension to the locality. Heavy rain also played havoc in Abbottabad where two persons were killed while huge losses of properties were reported from different parts of the district.

In Kehal area, Dr Sajjad, senior doctor of Mansehra hospital, drowned in rainwater when he came out of a mosque after offering morning prayers.

“The death of the doctor was result of negligence of tehsil municipal administration as roadside stream was full of garbage, sand and crush. The rainwater was flowing on the road, turning it into a stream,” an eyewitness said.

According to him, the doctor came out of the mosque and sat in his car but in the meantime water level on road increased and swept away his vehicle. The car hit an electricity pole and was badly damaged.

A search was mounted for Dr Sajjad. His body was found in the Harno River near Havelian, some 10 kilometres, after hectic search for six hours.

Police said that another unidentified body was also found in the Harno River. Police kept the body in local hospital for identification.

The TMA, which is responsible for the sanitation of the city, was continuously approached by locals for the cleanliness of streams, filled with stones and mud, but to no avail.

The upper parts of Hazara also received heavy rains on Sunday, turning many roads in the region impassable.

The rain, which started early in the morning, continued intermittently throughout the day. Many links roads in Kaghan, Siren and Konsh valleys and Battagram and Kohistan were also flooded.