Storm Kills More Than 50 in Pakistan

Pakistani rescue workers and local residents search for dead bodies from the rubble of destroyed homes caused by a landslide in Dirbala, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of Peshawar, Pakistan. Rescuers searched for survivors Saturday after rain-triggered landslides and lightning killed more than 80 people, including women and children, and destroyed homes in three remote villages in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. (AP Photo/Delawar Jan)


Storm Kills More Than 50 in Pakistan

Friday July 20, 2007 9:16 PM
By RIAZ KHAN
Associated Press Writer

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Lightning and heavy rain caused landslides that destroyed homes in two villages in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing more than 50 people, officials said.
Seven houses were destroyed and others damaged in remote villages in Dirbala district, local official Nisar Khan Wardak said. The villages are 150 miles north of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier province.
He said more than 50 bodies had been recovered, several villagers were missing, and the death toll was expected to rise.
Sultan Ghani, the region's deputy police chief, said officers and doctors were sent to the villages, which are located in the mountains near a fast-flowing stream.
``It seems the lightning triggered landslides, and boulders struck homes,'' he said.
Some of the injured were taken to a hospital, Ghani said. He said rescuers faced difficulties transporting the dead and injured because the villages were so remote.
Storms in Pakistan are often deadly, as rain and snow collapse the roofs of houses and swollen mountain streams wash away settlements.