Devastating hailstorm rips through parts of Pakistan, killing 5

Islamabad, April 17 (IANS) A destructive hailstorm ripped through parts of Pakistan's capital Islamabad and provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), claiming lives of at least five people and damaging properties and standing crops worth millions.

Several vehicles were damaged in Islamabad as hailstones as big as the size of a golf ball battered the region. The capital's famous Faisal Mosque also suffered damage with windows broken due to the hailstorm. Strong winds uprooted trees and power pylons in the Tornal area, which remained the worst affected in the capital.

Locals said they had never witnessed such a hailstorm in the capital before.

"The hailstones were the size of golf balls and started falling like rain. It felt scary. We saw it smashing the windscreens of several vehicles and also damaging other structures," said one of the locals in Islamabad.

In other provinces, the hailstorm followed by the flash floods, claimed lives of locals causing serious damages to public property besides damaging ready crop fields.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the rain-induced flash floods affected traffic on the main Peshawar-Torkham Road where the traffic remained suspended for at least five hours. The swollen streams also flooded the main roads.

As per reports, an army personnel was killed after lightning struck his bunker in KP's Landi Kotal area. Heavy rainfall also triggered flash floods, sweeping away cars.

The rain water also entered the transit camp where repatriating Afghan nationals are being accommodated before being sent back to Afghanistan. The camp near the Hamza Baba mausoleum was flooded with rain water and affected the registration process of the families being deported.

In KP's Charsadda district, hailstorm and heavy rains damaged acres of standing crops of wheat, vegetables and fruit orchards. The heavy rainfall also uprooted trees and electricity poles.

"We have been monitoring the situation and are in contact with the respective district administrations. All necessary steps have been taken to pay compensation and redress the losses caused by the floods," maintained KP's Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

In Punjab, one person died after a wall of a mosque collapsed in Rawalpindi while two lives were lost in Gujar Khan after a wall collapsed on to a passing trolley in Sohawa. A shopkeeper was also killed after lightning struck him in Pull Magsan area of Muzaffargarh.

The latest storm, which did not last for long but wreaked havoc in Pakistan came after several dry and hot days in various parts of the country. Experts say the region is witnessing a vertical instability when hot air rising from the plains of Punjab came in contact with the cold winds coming from northern Iran, leading to a temperature contrast.

"Hailstorms are formed due to this combination of varying temperatures, but extreme weather events are becoming more common, and the large size of hailstones is one of them," stated Zaheer Babar, spokesperson for the MeT office.

--IANS

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