Pre-monsoon floods cause havoc in Balochistan, KP

Pre-monsoon rains wreaked havoc in various areas of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in flooding and roof collapses, damaging crops and property, and causing many fatalities and injuries, according to provincial disaster management authorities.

In the Sonari area of the Balochistan Kohlu, the road linking the locality to Quetta had been washed away by flooding and several bridges had been damaged, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said in a statement on Tuesday. Floods also washed away electricity poles in Kohlu and heavy rains in Barkhan damaged crops.

Many areas of the province continue to experience rainfall in Sibi, Kohlu, Ziarat, Quetta, Chaman, Harnai, Loralai, Sherani, Musa Khel, Barkhan, and Zhob, the PDMA said.

Storms and gusting winds were reported in Sibi, Kohlu, Ziarat, Quetta, Harnai, Loralai, Sherani, Musakhel, Barkhan, Zhob, Kalat, and Khuzdar, it added.

In Sibi, the PDMA said, four women and one man were killed when raging floods swept a truck on Sunday.

According to Levies, the tragedy occurred when the truck attempted to cross the Beji River despite heavy flooding. “The truck was carrying about 25 people and their cattle,” said Bahadur Khan, an eyewitness who was wounded in the accident.

Citing the Met Office, the PDMA statement said that the current pre-monsoon rains situation in Baluchistan is expected to continue till Wednesday (tomorrow).

Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Authority released a report on Monday, indicating that three children have been injured in rainfall incidents in the province in the last 24 hours.

According to the report, the children were wounded when the roof of a house collapsed due to heavy rains in the Dera Ismail Khan area. As well, three heads of livestock were killed in the incident, according to the report.