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PESHAWAR: Ten people, including six children, were killed and two injured in rain-related incidents in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday night and Tuesday.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that six deaths were reported in Swat, two in Bajaur and one each in Buner and Upper Kohistan districts. It said among the deceased were six children and two women.
In Swat, six people, including four children, lost lives in rain-related incidents in Swat district late Monday evening as torrential rains triggered flash floods and landslides in various parts of the region.
According to Rescue 1122 spokesperson Shafiqa Gul, a mother and her two sons drowned in the Sur Dherai area of Malam Jabba while attempting to cross a stream.
PDMA issues Glof alert for Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan
“The mother, holding her 10-month-old baby Mohsin in her lap, was trying to guide her seven-year-old son Afwan across the stream when a flash flood struck. In the chaos, she lost control, and the child in her lap was swept away,” she said.
A Rescue 1122 rescue team, along with local residents, immediately launched a search and rescue operation, leading to the recovery of the bodies of Afwan and Mohsin hours later.
In the Gujar Band Shanko area of Madyan, a house collapsed due to heavy rainfall, killing three children and seriously injuring a woman. The house was flattened by the downpour.
After receiving an emergency call about the incident, Rescue 1122 teams rushed to the area, recovered the four from the rubble and shifted them to the Civil Hospital Madyan with the help of volunteers.
Doctors said that Madina Bibi, 11, Mustafa, 8, and Musa, 4, died, while the woman was under critical care. Local officials extended condolences to the bereaved families.
Authorities issued advisories, urging residents, especially those living in mountainous or low-lying areas, to exercise extreme caution during the ongoing monsoon season.
The district administration said it was closely monitoring weather patterns and had mobilised emergency services to respond to any incidents caused by the relentless rains.
In Bajaur tribal district, two brothers died after being swept away by downpour-induced floods in the Lowi Mamund tehsil.
The incident occurred in the Kalan area, according to Rescue 1122.
It said two sons of Ziauddin from the Ghanam Shah area were taken away by floodwaters as they’re crossing a stream on the way home on Monday night.
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No one was present to rescue them, according to Ibrahim Khan of Kalan area.
However, a group of villagers, including the two brothers’ relatives and youth, launched a rescue and recovery effort.
A Rescue 1122 team joined them, leading to the recovery of the body of Gulbadeen, 23, who was married 10 days ago.
The body of Jawad Khan,12, was found the next morning, said Rescue 1122 in a statement. The two brothers were laid to rest in their native area Ghanam Shah.
Also, a man was washed away in flash floods in Deh Alami Banda of Buner district, while a woman drowned in Kandi tehsil of the district following heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, hundreds of tourists, who were stranded between Jalkhad and Babusar Top due to massive landslides on the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road, were rescued and sent to their respective areas on Tuesday.
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“Though it’s a difficult task to rescue over 100 marooned families, we developed an alternative ramp and shifted them to hotels in Naran before sending them to their destinations in the country,” deputy director of the Kaghan Development Authority Asad Shahzad Khan told reporters.
He said that the rescue operation, carried out with the help of heavy machinery and field staff members, was closely monitored by tourism secretary Dr Samad and KDA director general Shabbir Khan.
The AD said machinery cleared the landslides in Jalkhad and Basel, reopening the MNJ Road to traffic throughout the Kaghan Valley.
“As heavy landslides from nearby mountains blocked the MNJ Road at multiple locations in Jalkhad and near Babusar Top, we immediately launched efforts to evacuate the stranded tourists,” he said.
A Pakistan Army helicopter also reached the Jalkhad area to provide drinking water and food items to stranded tourists.
Meanwhile, the Mansehra district administration issued a statement, warning tourists against travelling beyond Barawai on the MNJ Road due to the ongoing risk of landslides in the Kaghan Valley.
It urged tourists and other travellers to use the Karakoram Highway instead of the MNJ Road to go to Gilgit-Baltistan.
Earlier in the day, a meeting was convened by the district administration and attended by the heads of departments reviewed the emergency situation triggered by the landslides on MNJ Road in Kaghan valley.
Additional deputy commissioner (relief) Asad Lodhi informed the meeting that multiple departments, including the Pakistan Army, had provided healthcare and other essential services to the stranded families before the road was cleared to traffic.
The Karakoram Highway, which links Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Gilgit-Baltistan via the Kohistan districts, remained open to traffic throughout the day.
“Although the water level in Babusar Nullah has been rising due to flash floods, the KKH is fully operational in both Upper and Lower Kohistan districts,” Upper Kohistan deputy commissioner Tariq Ali Khan told reporters.
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The PDMA on Tuesday issued an advisory about glacial lake outburst flood to the administration of five districts.
The advisory issued to deputy commissioners of Upper and Lower Chitral, Upper Dir, Swat and Upper Kohistan said that the rainfall was likely to continue in the week.
It said scattered rain and thunderstorms, with isolated heavy falls, were expected in the province.
“The prevailing weather increases the risk of glacial lake outburst floods, flash floods and landslides in vulnerable glaciated regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In view of the above weather conditions, you are requested to kindly take all necessary precautionary measures to avoid any loss of public and livestock, and damage to infrastructure and crops,” the PDMA told the district administrations in the advisory.
Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2025