LOWER DIR: Seven persons, including four children, were killed and five others injured in rain-related incidents in different districts on Friday, residents, police and rescuers said.

Five persons were killed on Thursday.

A man identified as Hameem Jan, 65, and his 14-year-old grandson, Asif Khan were killed and a woman was injured when boulders triggered by rain fell on their house in Undeesa village of Lajbok in Balambat area of Lower in the wee hours on Friday.

Rescue 1122 officials and residents said rocks fell on the house, caving its floor, and killing the elderly man and his grandson and injuring a woman.

The injured woman was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospita, Timergara.

The locals pulled out the bodies and the injured from the debris.

The monsoon rains continued in parts of Lower Dir on Friday, disrupting vehicular traffic on link roads in the hilly areas.

Landslides also blocked several roads in the district, causing miseries to motorists.

In Swabi, an eight-year-old boy, Arman Khan, was swept away by floodwaters in a canal in Dagai village on Friday.

Search for the body was under way.

Separately, a five-year-old child was electrocuted after he touched a pole in Palosai village of Razaar tehsil.

The heavy rain also inundated many areas in Swabi as rainwater entered houses and the main roads remained closed for hours due to floods.

The district received widespread rain on Thursday night and Friday.

The traffic on Swabi-Mardan and Swabi-Jehangira roads also remained blocked at several points due to floods. Traffic on Swabi-Topi Road also remained suspended for several hours in the Topi city and near Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

The floods badly damaged tobacco, maize crops and vegetables and caused suspension of power for long hours.

The areas, which were hit by earlier floods, were once again at the receiving end, eagerly waiting for assistance.

In Mardan, two minors were killed and four others sustained injuries when roof of a room of their house collapsed in Arat Koroona Mazdoor Abad area of Takhtbai.

Rescue 1122 officials retrieved the bodies and the injured from the debris.

They said the deceased children were identified as Numan, 14, and Romaisa, 3, while the injured included wife of Khursheed, and three children aged 12, 10 and 18, respectively.

The bodies and the injured were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Takhtbai.

In Shangla, a man was killed when the car he was driving veered off a road in Aloch Puran. Police identified the deceased as Nasir Ali.

A suspension bridge on Kana River was swept away by floodwater in Faizadara area of Damorai.

A government primary school and a house collapsed after a landslide hit them in Basia area.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2022