An MI-17 helicopter carrying relief supplies for rain-hit areas of Bajaur crashed in the Pandiyali area of Mohmand district on Friday due to bad weather, killing all five crew members, including two pilots, as per media reports.
As per media reports, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur confirmed that a provincial government MI-17 helicopter transporting relief supplies to rain-hit areas of Bajaur went down in the Pandiyali area of Mohmand district amid bad weather conditions. All five crew members, including two pilots, lost their lives in the crash.
According to media reports, the helicopter took off from Peshawar for Bajaur but lost contact while flying over Mohmand tribal district.
Monsoon Fury In Pakistan
At least 33 people have lost their lives, and 25 remain missing after torrential rains and a cloudburst triggered floods and landslides in multiple districts of northwestern Pakistan, according to officials and local media reports on Friday.
Rescue operations are underway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where teams are battling challenging weather and terrain. Floodwaters have inundated villages, destroyed homes, and cut off key access roads. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122, 16 people were confirmed dead, three injured, and seven still missing, The Express Tribune reported.
Heavy monsoon rains have also triggered landslides in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB). In PoGB, at least 10 fatalities have been reported due to landslides and flash floods, according to Geo News. In Ghizer district’s Khalthi valley, three people, including a woman, died, three others went missing, and over six homes were buried under debris.
In Dir Lower district’s Sori Paw area, five members of a family died when their house collapsed due to the heavy rain, leaving four others injured. In Battagram district, 10 people were killed and 18 reported missing after flash floods swept away several houses. Meanwhile, two people died and another was injured when a car was washed away in Mansehra’s Basiyaan region. Several homes were also destroyed in Bajaur, forcing evacuations in some areas.
According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a total of 343 people have died and more than 740 have been injured across the country during the monsoon that began on June 26. Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province has been the worst affected, where 164 people have died and more than 582 people have been injured.
(With IANS Inputs)
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