Inna ilahi wa inna lilahe rajoun
I imagine the situation in the former quake areas is miserable..
Mardan’s deadly floods devour 42 people
By Riaz Khan Daudzai & Shams Yousafzai
PESHAWAR: Torr-ential rains creating flashfloods in nullahs and rivers on Saturday killed 45 persons in the north-western districts of the NWFP with the heaviest toll in Mardan where the river Kalpani, flowing in record high flood, swept away dozens of people as part of a bridge on it collapsed.
Kalpani, which continued to break the flood record of over 80 years of flowing, swelled to 30-feet water level with over 80,000 cusecs discharge as torrential rains continued for the third straight day.
From early morning, a number of people gathered on the Shago Pul, the bridge linking Mardan Hoti with Par Hoti. A portion of the bridge, probably because of standing the load of the people and pressure of the thrashing floodwater, collapsed with dozens of the onlookers standing on it.
The rescue team and local people had recovered 25 bodies till the filing of this report, according to the police officials talking to the Statesman.
They continued search for others and expected that the toll from the bridge collapse might rise because it was difficult to say as to how many people had been swept away.
The Kalpani water also entered parts of the Mardan city and localities banking the river-nullah.
Besides dozens of houses in Sikandari Koroona, Serai, Muhalla Dehli, Mal Mandi and Sabzi Mandi, the floodwater also entered New Baghdada, Pakistan Chowk, Yadgar Chowk, CMH, Officers Mess of the Punjab Regiment Centre, Bari Cham, Hoti, Daang Baba, Kas Koroona, Toru-Mayaar Road, Nawa Killy and many other areas.
The floodwater swept away many household valuables besides standing crops worth millions of rupees.
The torrential monsoon rains also continued to lash the Charsadda district on the third day. The river Khiali continued to flow in record high flood, overflowing the nullahs including Shobla Drain and Turangzai Kunda, besides inundating more villages in addition to the 200 it flooded the day before.
The villages that remained inundated included Hussain Abad, Yasinzai, Agra, Tangi, Gul Abad, Mirzagan Qazi Khel, Baila Koroona, Utmanzai, Bilagai, Majokay Faqir Abad, Shabra, Tarangzai, Maira Umerazai, Dildar Ghari, Dargai, Khan Shahi, Kashmiryano Killay, Sarkay, Dakay Mirabad, Bilagai and Manzoori.
Three persons, Akbar Said of Khanmaee, Abdur Rahim of Dargai, and Sultan of Tarangzai were also killed by flashfloods.
The Charsadda-Peshawar Road also remained closed for all types of traffic as the floodwater overflowed it at Sardaryab. The commuters had to use the Nowshera-Peshawar Road to reach their destinations.
According to the reports pouring in here, three women were killed and two injured when their house collapsed due to torrential rains in tehsil Puran of the mountainous district of Shangla.
The women were identified as Jamila Syed, wife of Rehman Shah, and Umer Zia and Habiba, daughters of Rehman Shah. Those injured were Noor Jehan, wife of Rehmanullah, and a minor girl.
Torrential rains and flashfloods also killed seven and injured one in various parts of the Bajaur Agency. Five persons were killed when flashflood swept them away in Shagu area while two others were killed when the roof of their room collapsed in Dabar village.
Ali Rehman, Ghulam Mir, Azam Khan and Burhan-ud-Din were among the deceased while the name of the fifth person could not be ascertained.
They were swept away by floodwater when they were trying to cross the river in Shagu village of tehsil Mamond at night.
In another incident in Dabar village, two persons were killed during the night between Friday and Saturday when the roof of their room caved in. The deceased were identified as Mehraban and his sister.
in Gulabad, Chakdara area of the district, a local professor, Akhtar Saeed, who was on his way to college in his car, was gripped by floodwaters and he died on the spot while in Samarbagh area a young boy, Fazle Wali, was killed due to the collapsing of his house. In Wana, dozens of houses collapsed and a number of cattle heads died as the heavy rain continued to hit the area.
The authorities have warned the people in low-lying arrears to shift to safer places a more and deluges are being forecast.