Pak-Afghan highway closed after heavy rains pound Landi Kotal, suburbs

The highway connecting Pakistan to Afghanistan had to be closed for traffic at various points after torrential rains lashed Landi Kotal and its surroundings in Khyber district after a gap of two days on Tuesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The closure of roads created a lot of inconvenience for commuters, especially for matriculation students who found it hard to reach examination centers on time.

Besides that, rains also paralyzed routine life as roads were flooded, making it hard for people to reach their destinations.

Heavy rains were also reported from other parts of Khyber district namely tehsil Barra, Jamrud and Tirah Valley, flooding streams and turning the weather cold again.

One person was injured after the roof of his house came crashing down in Jamrud.

Rains also caused colossal damage to crops and fruit orchards.

On Monday, three girls were injured after the wall of their house collapsed in Karamna area of Landi Kotal.

The injured were identified as 15-year-old Amina, 12-year-old Hadia and eight-year-old Maria.

As many as two people were killed as torrential rain wreaked havoc in Landi Kotal on Friday night.

The deluge, caused by the rain, washed away a car carrying three people.

While the bodies of two persons were fished out, search for the third one was underway till the filing of this story.

Rain in Punjab

Widespread showers were reported from different parts of Punjab, including the provincial capital Lahore, after a new rain-producing system entered the country on Monday.

Different areas in Lahore, including The Mall, Jail Road, Dharampura, Ferozepur Road, Qaddafi Stadium, Naseerabad, Model Town and PECO Road, received showers.

The maximum temperature in the city of gardens was expected to touch 24 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, while the minimum temperature 16 degrees Celsius.

The level of humidity in the air was recorded at 42 per cent, while breeze was blowing at the speed of 11 kilometers per hour.

Attock, Lodhran, Qabula Sharif, Narowal, Pakpattan, Kharian, Manawala, Toba Tek Singh, Baseerpur received intermittent rainfall, which besides turning the weather cold also inundated roads and resulted in the suspension of power supply to different localities.

Continuous rain in and around Kharian damaged the wheat crop, while low-lying areas were flooded due to intermittent rainfall in Burewala, Arifwala, Chiniot and Talagang.

Rain in Balochistan

Recent rains have resulted in considerable drop in temperatures in Balochistan as the minimum temperature in Quetta and Kalat was recorded at 5 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, it was one degrees Celsius at Ziarat, seven degrees Celsius at Chaman, eight degrees Celsius at Zhob, 14 degrees Celsius at Nokkundi, 15 degrees Celsius at Sibbi, 18 degrees Celsius at Gwadar, 19 degrees Celsius at Turbat, and 20 degrees Celsius at Jeewani.

More showers predicted

The Met Office, in its prediction, said on Tuesday that the present spell of rains would continue to lash different parts of the country until April 9.

It forecast rain with snow over the hills for Punjab, KP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan during the next two days.

Reporters: Pervaiz Khan Afridi, Jahanzeb Afridi, Samra Fatima, Saad Raja, Isa Tarin, Aqsa Shahid