QUETTA, Dec 7: Thousands of earthquake survivors in parts of Ziarat spent a sleepless night on Saturday, as incessant rain, coupled with cold winds triggered by snowfall on mountains, served to compound their woes.

Water from Saturday night and Sunday morning’s rain entered tents of many quake survivors, forcing them out in the open.

“The tents provided to us failed to protect our children and other family members from rain and chilly weather,” Mohammad Akhtar told Dawn by telephone from Waam. He added that he was expected to be given a make-shift home built of a shipping container soon.

Rozi Khan, another survivor, underlined the need for winter tents in the quake-hit areas. He said because of the freezing cold, most children, women and old men in the affected areas had fallen ill.

Low gas pressure and prolonged load-shedding have also added to the people’s miseries.

Quetta and its adjoining areas received heavy rain and snowfall on Saturday and Sunday morning and there were also reports of rain from Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Khuzdar, Kalat and Sibi districts.

A girl was killed and four members of her family were injured when roof of a house collapsed because of heavy rain in Jhal Magsi and traffic remained suspended at the Quetta Sibi highway for several hours because of landslides.

Scores of houses were reportedly washed away or damaged in Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Khuzdar and Jhal Magsi districts by the rain. Reports of power breakdowns were received from several areas while people in many areas of Quetta complained of low gas pressure.

The rain played havoc with the poor sanitation system of Quetta as most roads and streets were inundated, badly affecting movement of the people.

The met office has predicted more rain and snowfall in Quetta, Ziarat and other parts of northern and central Balochistan over the next 24 hours.