SWABI: Three minor sisters were killed and their mother suffered serious injuries when roof of their house collapsed in Jaganat village of Chota Lahor tehsil here on Sunday.

It has been learnt that the structure of the old house was weakened by torrential rain on Friday night.

When contacted, Mohammad Saleh, who participated in the rescue efforts, said that after announcements on loudspeakers people rushed to the scene.

“We retrieved the three small sisters and their mother from the debris. They were taken to Yar Hussain civil hospital where doctors pronounced the three children dead,” he said.

The house owner, Afsar Mohammad, and his two-year-old son Abubakar were out of their home. The three sisters included as Jalwa Begum (5), Farwa Begum (3) and their three-month-old sister whose name could not be ascertained. Mother of the children has been referred to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, in serious condition.

CONSTABLE KILLED IN ROAD MISHAP: A police constable died and four others, including an ASI, suffered serious injuries when their vehicle overturned after its both front tyres burst near Swabi interchange of the motorway here on Sunday.

The police party was on security duty with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar. Mr Qaisar was on his way to Chota Lahor city where he along with Provincial Senior Minister Shahram Tarakai was scheduled to inaugurate the upgradation of the civil hospital.

When contacted, district police officer Sajjad Khan said that after the tyre burst the driver lost control and the van fell down the motorway bridge, resulting in injuries to five policemen. One of the injured constables, Haidar Ali, succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital. The remaining injured policemen included ASI Murtaza Khan, Mubarak Khan, Faiz Mohammad, and Anees Khan. Doctors at Shahmansoor Hospital Complex said that they were in stable condition.

Meanwhile, Topi tehsil and Chota Lahor civil hospitals have been upgraded to category-C. Both Mr Asad and Mr Tarakai inaugurated work on construction of new wards at the Topi tehsil hospital, which would cost Rs300 million. Besides, they also inaugurated the new building of Chota Lahore civil hospital, completed at a cost of Rs600 million. Mr Tarakai also announced Rs10 million for renovation of district headquarters hospital and provision of facilities there.

Published in Dawn, Aug 11th, 2014