Nine killed after buildings collapse in heavy rain

Nine people died today when the roofs of homes, a mosque and a sawmill collapsed in rains in north-western Pakistan, taking the number of people killed in rain-related incidents in recent days to 36, a government department said.

A spell of heavy winter monsoon rains started to hit many parts of Pakistan on Friday including the North West Frontier province, where dozens of homes with mud and thatch roofs have either collapsed or been damaged.

Today, nine people, many of them children, died and four were injured in separate incidents, the province’s home department said.

Two sisters, aged three and eight, were killed when the roof of their home crashed on top of them in Shergarh, a village north east of Peshawar, capital of the province.

Four other children, aged between two and 15 years old, died in similar incidents in four other nearby villages, the department said.

The roof of a sawmill collapsed in Mardan, a city north east of Peshawar, killing a worker and a security guard there, while an Afghan refugee was killed by debris from the collapsing roof of a mosque in Azakel, a village east of the provincial capital, it said.