10 killed in rain-triggered incidents in Pakistan’s Punjab

Kathmandu. Rain-triggered incidents of roof and wall collapse claimed 10 lives on Friday in Chakwal district of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, rescue officials said.

Rescue officials in the area told local media that the roof of one house collapsed in the Lakhwal area of Chakwal, and the debris of the house fell on the adjacent house, killing four people and injuring several others.

Following the incident, rescue teams rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and the injured to hospitals after retrieving them from the debris.

Both houses had been affected by recent heavy downpours and were in a dilapidated condition, said rescue officials, adding that there were several visible cracks in the walls even before the incident happened.

In another incident, the wall and roof of a house collapsed in the Gagh area of Chakwal, killing three women and a child on the spot.

Separately, two members of a family were killed and two others sustained serious injuries when the roof of their house collapsed in Chakwal. Rescue officials said incessant rains weakened the roof of the house.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan Meteorological Department forecasted more rains in parts of Punjab, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Thursday and Friday.

Heavy falls may generate urban flooding in several cities of Punjab and trigger landslides in vulnerable areas of KP and GB during the period, according to the weather office.