Army personnel among 3 dead as landslide hits bus on Karakoram Highway in KP’s Dasu
Three people, including two army personnel, died and one was injured after a landslide struck a bus on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in the Dasu area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kohistan district in the early hours of Monday, officials said.
Speaking to Dawn.com, Upper Kohistan District Police Officer (DPO) Mukhtiar Ahmad said a Hunza-bound passenger bus of the Northern Areas Transport Corporation was struck by big boulders, resulting in the deaths of three passengers.
He said two of the deceased were army personnel and one was a civilian while one person was injured. Ahmad said two of the deceased belonged to Gilgit-Baltistan while the third was from Rawalpindi.
He said the bodies and the injured were moved to the District Headquarters Hospital Dasu.
Meanwhile, the KKH was blocked at several points between Bisham and Diamer after heavy rain lashed the region on Sunday night.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Abdur Rehman said a heavy downpour hit the area and the KKH was blocked at several points due to which passengers travelling to and from Islamabad were stuck.
The KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) issued a weather advisory on Monday morning saying more rains were expected in parts of the province.
It said the rains may cause landsliding, thereby increasing flow in rivers and streams, which may result in urban flooding and strong winds.
The PDMA requested the general public to avoid unnecessary travel and visiting mountainous regions in the north, as well as adopt safety precautions during bad weather conditions.
On Friday, 12 members of a family were killed in their sleep when the roof of their mud house collapsed due to heavy rainfall in Maidan tehsil, Upper Dir, a rescue official said.
Punjab authorities on alert as monsoon rains expected till Sept 4
Separately, Punjab authorities were put on alert due to monsoon rains expected in several districts within the next 24 hours.
A statement from the Punjab PDMA spokesperson said the monsoon spell was expected to last till Wednesday.
It added that rains were expected in Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Khushab, Sargodha, Mianwali and Chiniot today and on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, thundershowers and rain were also expected in Lahore, Kasur, Narowal, Sahiwal, Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, Jhang and Mianwali.
The statement said that intermittent rains were expected on Tuesday and Wednesday in the districts of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Khanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Leh, Rajanpur and Rahimyar Khan.
According to PDMA Director General Irfan Ali Kathia, the flow of water in the Indus, Chenab, Ravi, Jhelum and Sutlej rivers was at a normal level, as well as in the canals of Punjab.
There was also a “normal situation” in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan’s hill torrents, DG Kathia said. He added that the water capacity in the Mangla Dam was at 79 per cent while Tarbela Dam was at 100pc capacity.
Kathi said that at present, there was no danger of flooding in the rivers of Punjab.
“In view of instructions from Punjab Chief Minister [Maryam Nawaz], PDMA and other relevant authorities have been put on alert,” DG Kathia.
He added that all resources were being used to protect citizens.
The public was requested to take precautionary measures during monsoon rains, as well as contact the PDMA helpline 1129 in case of an emergency.
It also rained in Lahore today with a first spell from 10:30 to 1:30pm and a second spell from 4:30pm till now, according to data from the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) as of 4:52pm.
Nishtar received the most rain at 107 millimetres, then Gulshan-i-Ravi (43mm), Gulberg (42mm), Tajpura (36mm), Upper Mall (31mm), Iqbal Town (14mm), Samanabad (13mm), airport area (7mm), Jail Road (6.4mm), Johar Town (6mm) and Mughalpura (2mm).
A statement from Wasa said its staff was fully mobilised on the chief minister’s instructions with Managing Director Ghufran Ahmed monitoring operations himself.
Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across Punjab over the past few weeks.
Last week, one person died and five others were injured due to lighting strikes and roof collapses. Additionally, 45 cattle were reported dead in these weather-related roof collapse incidents over the past 24 hours.
On August 27, Multan experienced record-breaking torrential downpour, the highest in 48 years, as a rain emergency was imposed by the Water and Sanitation Agency.
Earlier in August, torrential rains in Lahore also broke a record of at least 44 years as the city witnessed a maximum rainfall of almost 360 millimetres within hours in the Airport area.