PESHAWAR: The death toll from the mini-cyclone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) reached 45 on Monday.
More than 200 were injured in different rain-related incidents. Torrential rains and winds blowing at 110 km/hour caused the catastrophe in Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera and other areas of the province causing roofs to cave in and walls to collapse.
Rescuers rushed victims to hospitals as roads submerged in water hindered their operations. Ambulances and rescue vehicles found it difficult to enter into some areas due to fallen trees and electric poles. Residents carried some of the injured on their backs to cars heading to hospitals.
Most of the victims were shifted to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital. As the number of casualties kept increasing LRH could not cope with the influx of injured and, therefore, fresh arrivals were taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital. While extending his condolences on the loss of life and property due to the torrential rains, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif approved a package of Rs 500,000 for the family of each deceased person and Rs50,000 for each person injured.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s wife Reham Khan also visited victims in Lady Reading hospital Peshawar. While speaking to media representatives, Khan said that “we stand by the victims in their hour of need”. She added that most of the victims sustained head injuries and they are being provided with the best medical facilities. Reham Khan said aid was being delivered to the rain affected areas.
She said it was regretful that a warning could not be given for the bad weather which lashed Peshawar and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak also visited the injured and assured all possible treatment to them. Two army battalions have been deployed in the affected areas for rescue and relief work.
KP ministers held a brief press conference Monday and declared PMD responsible for the destruction and losses of innocent lives. KP Information Minister Mushtaq Ghani said that it was PMD’s responsibility to issue the climate advisory. He said that at least Rs 100 million more have been granted to the district administration. Power network is partially destroyed in Peshawar due to the storm, he added.
While extending condolences on the loss to life and property due to torrential rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday approved a package of Rs 500,000 for the family of each deceased person and Rs 50,000 for each injured person.
Nawaz Sharif directed the National Disaster Management Authority to expedite relief and rescue activities in the rain-affected areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.