PESHAWAR: A woman was killed in Nowshera district as heavy rain and gusty winds lashed the provincial capital and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday afternoon.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson said that the incident took place in Akhora Khattak area where one Shaheen Bibi, 38, was killed after she was struck on head by a steel bar falling from roof due to gusty winds.

Rescuers took her to the Nowshera Medical Complex, but she did not survive.

The torrential rain nearly choked the provincial capital as all major roads and bazaars were flooded with rainwater.

Parts of Kohat division also received heavy showers and hailstorm. Hail balls of snooker ball size forced the people to temporarily shut down shops and stalls on Sunday. The hailstorm lashing Kohat division intermittently for the last fortnight had affected the standing maize and wheat crops and vegetables.

However, regular rains at almost every afternoon in Kohat and upper parts had made the weather pleasant and there had been no need for running air conditioners during most of the daytime.

The hailstorm hit Kohat, Hangu, Sayyab and Bilitang and other nearby tribal districts which had turned the weather pleasant. It also damaged the orchards of loquat on Hangu road and Rawalpindi highway in Kohat.

According to the Met department, Peshawar received 25mm of rain, Parachinar 35mm, Cherat 8mm, Chitral 2mm, Timergara 3mm, Drosh 2mm, Dir 2mm, Kalam 4mm and Mirkhani 3mm.

It said that partly cloudy weather was expected in most parts of the region during next 24 hours. However, thunderstorm and rain accompanied with gusty winds were expected at isolated places in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Kohistan, Battagram, Torghar, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swat, Chitral, Shangla, Buner, Malakand, Bajaur, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kohat, Hangu, Karak, Kurram, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, North Waziristan, DI Khan, Tank and South Waziristan districts.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2019