LAKKI MARWAT/KOHAT/SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Two people were killed and 36 others were injured when heavy downpours and windstorms lashed Bannu, Kohat and South Waziristan on Wednesday, rescue and administrative officials said.

A Bannu administration official said two bodies were brought to the District Headquarters Hospital, who were identified as Khozada Bibi, 60, and Taseer Khan, 18. He said the woman died in the Gulbadan area and the boy in the Bharati Michenkhel area in roof collapse incidents as the first spell of monsoon rains coupled with strong winds wreaked havoc in the district.

The official said an emergency was declared in all major hospitals and doctors and paramedics were called on duty. He added that at least 31 injured, including women and children, were also brought to hospitals from different areas.

Official says emergency declared in all Bannu hospitals

He said the teams of Water and Sanitation Services Company, municipal bodies, Rescue 1122 and other relevant departments had been put dispatched to the affected areas to carry out rescue and relief activities.

Local residents said heavy downpours with strong winds flooded streets and roads, forcing people to stay indoors. They said the strong winds damaged rooftop solar panels and uprooted trees. Boundary walls and roofs of houses collapsed.

A video clip circulating on social media showed debris from a big car shed lying on the premises of the District Headquarters Hospital and on DI Khan Road, and ambulances bringing the injured to the hospital.

Several cars and motorcycles parked under the shed were damaged.

A rescue official said that incidents of roof and wall collapse were reported from different parts of the district.

He said four students were injured when the roof of a seminary collapsed in Kot Pasha village of Ghoriwala town.

He identified the injured as Qudrat, 15, Hakim, 9, Aalyan, 7, and Mehtab, 10, who had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

Bannu deputy commissioner Shah Saud visited the DHQ Hospital to enquire about the wounded people and check the availability of doctors and essential medicines.

He told journalists that special instructions were issued to the hospitals’ management to ensure the presence of all relevant staff and provide standard medical facilities to the injured persons. The deputy commissioner said that sufficient medicines were available in all hospitals and health facilities across the district.

He said that on the directives of divisional commissioner Parweiz Sabatkhel, his administration was closely monitoring the situation and that the affected residents would be provided with all sorts of relief at their doorstep.

Meanwhile, three people, including a woman, were seriously injured when the boundary wall of a mosque fell on an adjacent house in the Mandoori area of Lachi tehsil of Kohat during a windstorm.

Rescue 1122 officials said that after getting the distress call from the control room they reached the spot and provided first aid to the injured after recovering them from the debris. The injured were identified as Ms Absheen, 32, Fazal Subhan, 45, and Riaz, 22.

Rescue officials said that Subhan was referred to a Peshawar hospital in precarious condition.

In the Lower South Waziristan district, a girl and a woman got injuries when the roof of a room of their house collapsed in the Sholam Wachobai area of Birmal tehsil during heavy rain.

The injured, identified as Nadia and Almara Bibi, were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital, Wana. The local residents rushed to the spot and retrieved the injured from under the debris.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024