Islamabad, Hilal Ahmad, August 30, AZERTAC
In Pakistan, at least 12 people were killed as a massive landslide hit a house in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday. Police and rescue teams have recovered all the bodies from the debris.
According to Police and Rescue sources, heavy rainfall during the night caused the landslide in the Upper Dir district of the province resulting in the casualties. Among the deceased include four women, a man and seven children belonging to the same family.
Soon after the tragic incident, police and rescue teams arrived at the scene and recovered the bodies from the debris of the perished residential house and moved the dead bodies to a nearby hospital. Local authorities stated that the rescue operation faced challenges due to the heavy downpour in the area
Meanwhile, with a deep depression lying at about 250km south/southeast of most populated city of Karachi is set to move towards Oman, the coastal areas of Pakistan are bracing for a ‘rare’ cyclonic storm likely over the northeast Arabian Sea along Sindh Province’s coast.
The incessant rainfall is lashing across the country resulting in the flash floods in many areas. The Met officials of Pakistan have said that the deep depression over the Rann of Kutch would move towards Oman parallel to Pakistani coast, but can produce torrential rains in southern districts including Karachi and along the Makran coast in Pakistan.
Similarly, in Gilgit-Baltistan region, rain caused landslides and flash floods while blocking the Karakoram Highway. As rains are likely to lash most parts of the country, the Sindh province braced itself for another spell of heavy rainfall till Aug 31 due to the cyclone. Met officials have described the formation of a cyclone in the monsoon season as a “rare phenomenon”.
As per the Meteorological officials, the storm doesn’t pose a direct threat to the coastal areas of Pakistan, but its impact will still be felt in the form of torrential rains causing urban flooding in cities including Karachi.