SWABI/SHANGLA: With rain lashing Gadoon Amazai area of Swabi district, a five-year-old child was killed there after being swept away in the flash flood.

The Rescue 1122 officials and residents said it rained heavily in Gadoon Amazai area and Saqib Khan was taken away by the rainwater from the street outside his house.

They said the child’s body was later found in a field.

Also, a house collapsed in Beergali due to the downpour.

However, no one was hurt as the family fled to safety ahead of the house collapse.

Downpour triggers landslides in Shangla

The rain accompanied by a windstorm lashed the district flooding low-lying areas and damaging standing tobacco and maize crops.

The residents also said the heavy rainfall and strong winds suspended electric supply to various areas.

The Peshawar Electric Supply Company said its workers worked all through the day to restore power supply.

The growers insisted that the rainfall was crucial for crops.

The district administration said amid heavy rains, the people should take measures to prevent or minimise damage to public life and property.

Meanwhile, a major road connecting Chakesar tehsil with the Karakoram Highway and other parts of Shangla district was blocked at two points after heavy rain caused a landslide on Thursday night.

The road remained blocked until Friday evening with workers busy clearing it to traffic.

Assistant commissioner of Chakesar Hamid Siddiqui said the road was blocked after heavy rocks rolled down the hills in Sarkol area of the tehsil.

He said traffic was suspended on the main road of the tehsil after the incident.

The AC said the road connected Chakesar tehsil with the Karakoram Highway in Dandai and other parts of the district and was used by hundreds of travellers and goods trucks.

He said a minor landslide was reported in the Sarkol area on Thursday but a massive one hit the area at 10am on Friday.

Mr Siddiqui said the rocks were so big that the excavator couldn’t remove them.

“We have called in heavy machines from the district headquarters Alpuri to clear the road to traffic,” he said.

The AC said the first landslide was removed on Thursday midnight but efforts were under way to remove the second one.

He said he expected that the road would be reopened to one-way traffic shortly.

Tehsil nazim of Chakesar Bakht Alam Khan told Dawn that the Dandai-Chakesar Road was at high risk of being hit by a massive landslide, which could cause damage to public life.

He said he had asked the communication and works department for help, but to no avail.

“Local residents have made announcements from mosques for people to avoid unnecessary road journeys as almost all arteries of Shangla district are vulnerable to landslides,” he said.

Shangla deputy commissioner Hassan Abid warned the people, especially tourists, against travelling on Shangla roads in light of the advisory of the provincial disaster authorities regarding heavy monsoon rainfall.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023