RAWALPINDI: At least three people, including two children, died while five other people were injured as a powerful storm ripped through the Rawalpindi district on Friday.

The storm caused the collapse of roofs besides uprooting several trees, and electricity poles in Rawalpindi and Gujar Khan. Heavy rain was also reported from different parts of Rawalpindi; however, the weather calmed after a short while.

The first incident happened in Qazian village where two children - Ali Hassan, 9, and eight-year-old Zila Hassan - died while two other children identified as Aliza, 12, and Farhan, 4, were injured after the roof of their house caved in, police said.

Shortly after the incident, Rescue 1122 staff reached the spot and shifted the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi, said a police official.

Another 55-year-old woman was injured critically in the same area after a wall of her house collapsed. A 13-year-old girl, Areeba, also died in a roof collapse incident in the Sangni area of Gujar Khan, police and Rescue 1122 sources said.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024