More Than 50 Killed By Lightning, Heavy Rain in Pakistan

Published January 13, 2015

Lightning and heavy rain destroyed homes in two remote villages in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing more than 50 people, officials said.

Seven houses were completely destroyed and others damaged in the villages in Dirbala district, 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of , Peshawar local official Nisar Khan Wardak said.

He said more than 50 bodies had been recovered and several other villagers were still missing and the death toll was expected to rise.

Wardak provided no further details.

Sultan Ghani, the region's deputy police chief, said officers and doctors have been dispatched to the region, located in mountains near a fast-flowing stream.

"It seems the lightning triggered landslides, and boulders struck homes," Ghani said.

Some injured people had been taken to a local hospital, but rescuers were facing problems in transporting the dead and injured because of the area's remoteness, he said.

Storms in Pakistan frequently are deadly as rain and snow collapse the roofs of houses and swollen mountain streams wash away settlements.

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