Five die in roof collapse

MINGORA, Oct 24: Five inmates including four children were killed and two people sustained injuries when roof of a house collapsed in Nangolai area of Swat on Wednesday.

According to police and local residents, the incident occurred at 3am when all the inmates were asleep in the house in the area located in Kabal tehsil.

They said the roof of the house caved in when the wooden beam broke.

The deceased included 55-year-old Akhtar Begum and fourchildren Abdullah, Eman, Maria and Aisha. The injured were identified as Saima and Syed Alama who were taken to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital in critical condition.

Local people said the ill-fated family had shifted from Karachi to Swat a few days ago. The dead were later buried amid moving scenes. —Correspondent

PML-N leader resigns

PESHAWAR, Oct 24: The Peshawar district president of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Abdul Sattar Khalil, has strongly reacted to the replacement of the district general secretary Waqif Khan and resigned from the party post.

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, he termed it a wrong decision of the party leadership and said that before taking such decisions at least the leadership should have taken the relevant people into confidence.

He said that Waqif Khan had served the party for the past two decades and faced serious hardships during different times.

“The replacement of such a senior party leader is tantamount to overlooking the services of the people without any reason. I will remain in the party and work as an ordinary worker but will not hold the office of district president,” he said.

He said the new office-bearers had come through selection and such decisions might damage the party. —Bureau Report

Girl killed ‘for honour’

NOWSHERA, Oct 24: A girl was killed in an alleged honour-related incident at Chowki Mamraz locality here on Wednesday.

A resident said the girl Afshan Khan (16) was killed by her relatives to save their honour.

However, mother of Afshan told police at Rashid Hussain Shaheed Memorial Hospital, Pabbi, that her daughter was busy in cooking at the kitchen of her house when a stray bullet hit her and she died on the spot.

In another incident, a five-year-old child was sexually molested by a 30-year old man here at Nizampur area. Police said the child was left unconscious in the field.

Later the relatives rushed him to DHQ Hospital, Nowshera, where he was admitted in serious condition.

Father of child, Jawad, while talking to media persons appealed to government to take stern action against the accused. —Correspondent

Action to save wildlife

PESHAWAR, Oct 24: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has directed the director general prosecution of the province to ensure speedy disposal of the pending cases related to wildlife so that rare species of animals could be saved from extinction.

Home and tribal affairs department on Wednesday directed the DG prosecution to ensure quick disposal of wildlife offence cases and implement the decisions of the wildlife management board in letter and spirit.

“The concept behind this action is to discourage illegal hunting of animals and their smuggling and to provide maximum opportunities and natural environment in Pakistan for breeding wildlife,” a text of the order said. —Bureau Report

Bridge inaugurated

TIMERGARA, Oct 24: Provincial minister for livestock and dairy development Haji Hidayatullah has said that a lot of development funds were being spent on reconstruction of bridges, roads and water canals devastated by flash floods in 2010.

The minister was addressing a function at Rahimabad Samar Bagh in his native constituency after inaugurating Rahimabad Bridge here on Wednesday.

ANP district president Hussain Shah Yousafzai, Jandol president Abdul Wahid and notables of the area were also present on the occasion.

He said that the bridge had been constructed with a total cost of Rs10 million while more Rs30 million would be spent on gas pipeline in Jandol area.

“Unfortunately the 2010 flash floods forced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to spend most of its funds on reconstruction of roads and bridges in the area,” he said, adding it was not possible for the government to ignore those projects. —Correspondent

Cycling body office-bearers

PESHAWAR, Oct 24: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cycling Association has announced names of its new office-bearers with Malik Mohammad Ali Sohni as its new president and Iftikhar Ahmed Awan general secretary.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at Qayum Sports Complex here on Wednesday. On the occasion, Mohammad Hanif Shah Marwat (Dera Ismail Khan), Sikandar Shah (Kohat), Malik Mohammad Ijaz (Mardan) and Dr Zubair Ali (Abbottabad) were named as vice-presidents while Fayaz Ahmed (Peshawar), Usman Ali (Bannu), Zafar Ali Khattak (Nowshera), Mohammad Wajid Awan (Abbottabad), Humayun Khan (Mardan) and Rizwan Khan (Dera Ismail Khan) were announced as joint secretaries.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Olympic Association general secretary Zulfiqar Butt assured the new body of full cooperation and announced that annual grant of Rs400,000 would be released soon for the cycling association. —Bureau Report