Lightning kills 14 in Pakistan

At least 14 people, including women and children, were killed as lightning struck three homes in a remote village of northwest Pakistan on Sunday.

Violent rains, coupled with lightning and thunder, began on Saturday night and continued till the early hours of Sunday, destroying the three mud houses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province's Torghar village, officials said.

These mountainous districts under Hazara Division are usually prone to mudslides and rain-related incidents during the monsoon months.

Locals and rescue teams retrieved the bodies from the debris and shifted two injured persons to Abbottabad Hospital. The fourteen killed included women and children, officials said.

The Disaster Management Authority, KPK, dispatched relief material and rescuers to the affected village, but mudslides in mountain tracts delayed efforts.

Operations are underway to clear the roads, officials said.

The National Disaster Management Authority has issued a rain alert for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Islamabad, and eastern Balochistan.