Quetta: Heavy snowfall and rains have killed around 10 people in different parts of Balochistan province, with nearly 1,500 stranded families rescued by Pakistan Army helicopters.
Rescue officials said heavy flooding caused by rains and snowfall had affected most parts of Chaman, Bolan, Khuzdar, Pishin, Lasbela, Dalbandin, Qila Abdullah, Khuzdar and Kech, where hundreds of families were rendered homeless after their houses were swept away. “We have reports of some 10 deaths from different areas due to the extreme weather conditions,” an official said.
The media has reported around two dozen deaths due to snowfall, rains and flooding in other parts of Pakistan, which is witnessing an unusually long winter. The official said two children of a family were killed and their parents injured in Chaman when the roof of their house caved in, while heavy downpour in Khuzdar led to the collapse of a house, killing three children and injuring others.
He added that deaths were also reported from Bolan due to torrential rains and due to flooding in Mastung and Uthal, Lasbela. “Two persons got swept away in floodwaters and are feared dead in Dalbindin and Pishin, while a coaster carrying 42 pilgrims to the Shah Noorani shrine in Lasbela was swept away by heavy flooding but later, the pilgrims were rescued with some of them injured,” another official said.
Security forces were moved to assist the civil administration in rescue-and-relief operations for flood victims in various parts of the province, the military’s media wing said on Sunday. An update shared by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said nearly 1,500 families had been rescued by Pakistan Army aviation helicopters in the Dureji (Lasbela) and Qila Abdullah areas. Also, rations have been provided to some 3,500 families in the rain-affected areas of the province. Additionally, security forces have rescued the vehicles that were stranded at different places in the province.