Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: At least eight people, including children, have died in rain-related accidents in Peshawar and Chitral.

In Lower Dir, two children were killed and three other persons wounded when roof of a house caved in due to rain in agency headquarters, Timergarah. In another incident, six people were killed when their houses collapsed due to heavy rain in Peshawar and Chitral. Rain continued intermittently in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday. A spokesperson of Met Office said that the highest rainfall of ninety-eight millimetres was recorded in Dir followed by 50mm in Saidu Sharif.

The hilly areas continued to receive snowfall with two feet of snow recorded in Malam Jabba and one foot in Murree and Galiyat. The Margalla Hills in Islamabad also received snowfall. The mountains, including Pir Sohawa, wore a white snow cover and a cold wave gripped the twin cities. A large number of people thronged Margalla Hills and Pir Sohawa to enjoy the snow after media reported that the city’s hill resorts receive snowfall after a decade. The current spell of rain will have salutary impact on the wheat crop. Meanwhile, there were reports of landslides in different parts of the Neelum, Jehlum and Leepa valleys. The northern areas of Pakistan were blanketed in snow, while the capital city of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, received intermittent snowfall on Thursday after a decade.

As temperatures hit zero or below in some parts of the country, including upper areas of Neelum Valley, Leepa Valley, Bagh Chakar and Rawalkot. Attendance in government-run offices, schools and colleges remained thin. Residents of Muzaffarabad and its adjoining areas enjoyed the snow on Thursday, as it began at 9am and lasted for over 10 minutes. The village Kel in AJK’s Neelum Valley received about two feet of snow, Bagh and Tolipir areas received half as much as Kel. Following the snowfall, temperature plummeted to zero in parts of Muzaffarabad, Hatian Bala and Neelum Valley.

“Heavy snowfall was reported in Mansehra District and Abbottabad, which blocked Karakoram Highway and other district roads in various areas,” a spokesperson for Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

Abbottabad received more than one foot of snow on Thursday, breaking 40 years record. Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted that rain showers will continue in several areas, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, KP, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir till today (Friday).