Flood-hit Chitral: rescue operation in full swing

Rescue operation in Chitral s Ursoon village is underway as more than 500 tents have been distributed among the victims on Tuesday. Relief operation is in full swing in the rain and flood affected areas of Drosh in district Chitral, according to Provincial Disaster Management Authority-PDMA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Bodies of nine victims who were recovered from Afghanistan after being swept away in Chitral flooding Sunday have been handed over to Pakistani officials over Rs 20,000 to 30,000 per cadaver whereas other 17 corpses have also been found. Meanwhile, provincial minister Mahmood Khan visited Ursoon village and distributed Rs 300,000 to the victims.
GOC Malakand Major General Ghafoor also met the sufferers and gave them ration from Pakistan Army. The heavy monsoon rains began late Saturday and were concentrated mainly in the north western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change.
The worst hit district was Chitral where the flood waters killed more than 40 people in the village of Ursoon near the Afghan border, which is home to some 100 families. Eighty-two homes in the village were affected by the waters, a rescue services statement said, with some of them swept away, along with a mosque and an army post.
"Sixteen of the dead were offering prayers in the mosque when it was swept away by the flood," said Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority. At least eight of the victims were soldiers, and another eight bodies were swept over the border into Afghanistan, senior local official said. Meanwhile, met office has predicted that rain will occur during Eid in the upper and central areas of the country whereas it has warned of flood in the mountainous areas. Rain/dust-thundershowers are expected scattered places of Islamabad, upper Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, and Lahore divisions), KP (Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat divisions) and Kashmir in the next 24 hours.
Rain-thundershowers with isolated heavy falls accompanied by windstorm are expected in scattered places in Islamabad, upper Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad divisions), FATA (Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, North & South Waziristan Agencies), upper KP (Malakand, Hazara and Peshawar in the next 48 hours.