KOHAT: Five people including two women were killed and two others received injuries due to electricity short-circuit in several houses when lightning hit the high transmission line in Sorgul area here on Thursday.

The injured were shifted to KDA teaching hospital and combined military hospital (CMH) Kohat.

The deceased were identified as Farzana, Shamshad, Tariq, Ayaz and Nawaz. They were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard. The injured including Fareeda and Noor Bibi were shifted to CMH in precarious condition.

The residents of the area blamed the negligence of Pesco for the incident. They said that the old high transmission line fell on the transformer that caused intense short-circuit in the houses.

They claimed that they did not hear any noise of lightning in the entire area.

According to Pesco officials, lightning struck the high transmission line and it entered the transformer as a result the home appliances, meters and other gadgets caught fire and became short-circuit. The inmates were electrocuted when they touched the power appliances.

A team visited the area for inspection and termed it a natural disaster. It said that power loadshedding was being observed when the lightning struck the line in the area therefore high velocity and deadly natural electricity passed through the lines.

However, a high level inquiry committee was constituted to probe the incident.

Meanwhile, the district administration fined 91 CNG-run vehicles plying on different highways for absence of safety fitness certificates and fire extinguishers during snap checking on Thursday.

The vehicles were carrying passengers more than the allowed capacity, had substandard CNG kits and were without fire extinguishers.

The authorities imposed Rs55,900 fine on the drivers of the vehicles.

Assistant Commissioner Abdur Rehman, who checked the vehicles, asked the drivers to get the safety certificates as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the additional assistant commissioner-III, Murad Ahmed Khan Hoti, checked the filling stations and sealed three of them for operating illegally and without getting formal permission.

He checked the filling stations on Rawalpindi Road, OTS road and University Road and sealed Saafi, Jawas Khan and Saadullah Khan filling stations. He ordered the owners of the filling stations to appear in court on Friday (today).

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2019