QUETTA: At least two women died and 10 others were injured in Hoshab area of Kech district in incidents caused by torrential rain over the past three days.

According to Levies force, 30 women and children marooned in a village after flash floods in Kech river were rescued.

“Heavy showers lashed Makran division for three days and played havoc, resulting in the death of two women and injury to 10 others, while dozens of mud-houses collapsed in Hoshab and various other areas,” Turbat Assistant Commissioner Abdullah Khoso told Dawn on Sunday. He said the district administration was striving to carry out rescue and relief work within its limited resources.

Official sources said that a portion of the Karachi-Gwadar Coastal Highway and several links roads in Makran had been damaged by floods in streams flowing from mountains into the sea.

The heavy rains also triggered flash floods in the Bolan and Nari rivers.

According to officials, about 100,000 cusecs of water was passing through the Nari river, posing a danger of flood in adjoining areas of eastern Balochistan.

Bolan district authorities said three vehicles were washed away by flash floods and three people travelling in them were missing.

A truck driver, Mohammad Zareef, died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater in Bolan river. His body was found in the Aab-i-Gum area.

At least 10 nomads living along the river’s bank were also missing after their makeshift huts were washed away. A large number of goats and sheep were killed.

The Levies station in Barkhan was burnt down after lightning struck it, but no casualty was reported.

Standing crops were destroyed, cattle killed and roads damaged during the rains in the area.

More than 10 shepherds were injured in a hailstorm in Barkhan and Pishin.

MPA Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran from the JUI-F demanded in the Balochistan Assembly that Barkhan should be declared a calamity-hit area.

Dozens of mud-houses collapsed in Bostan and other areas of Pishin district. Portions of roads linking Pishin with other areas were damaged and the communication system was affected.

In Quetta, several mud-houses collapsed in downstream areas, the main sewerage system of the city overflowed had accumulated rainwater and sewage entered houses and shops in several localities.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2014