DHAKA: A severe storm in north-west Pakistan, dubbed a ‘mini-cyclone’, has killed 44 people and injured more than 200, officials said on Monday, raising their previous death toll.

Intense rain and strong winds buffeted the city of Peshawar and adjacent districts late Sunday, felling trees, causing dozens of roofs and walls to collapse and blocking many roads.

The injured include nearly 100 children, according to officials, while farmers have seen their produce badly affected.

‘At least 44 people have been killed and 202 wounded. The storm followed by heavy rain and hailstorm has severely damaged wheat crops and orchards,’ provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani told the media, reports The Straits Times.

Ghani said that the authorities were estimating the losses and expressed fear that hundreds of cattle have been killed.

BDST: 1352 HRS, APR 27, 2015
RR

** 35 killed as heavy rains batter Pakistan