35 individuals, including 22 children, tragically perished as a result of an unexpected snowfall in Pakistan

International Desk: At least 35 people including 22 children have died due to heavy rain and snowfall in Pakistan. Several people were injured. The incident took place in the northern and western parts of the country after about a week of rain and sudden snowfall.

This information was reported by the BBC citing the country's disaster management authority. Bad weather is prevailing in northern and western parts of Pakistan. Many roads were closed and hundreds of houses were damaged. Most of the casualties were buried under houses in landslides triggered by rain and snow. The unexpected snowfall in March surprised even the weather experts. Mushtaq Ali Shah, the former director of the country's Meteorological Department, blames climate change for such a contrary picture. He said light hail for some time during this time is not unusual. But hail for more than 30 minutes is a real concern. Hajit Shah, a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Kirk district, told the BBC, "As far as I can remember, I saw snowfall at this time once 25-30 years ago. Most of the hail and snow damage occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. At least 150 houses have completely collapsed and around 500 have partially collapsed due to heavy rains. Some areas have been completely without electricity for several days.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department, in its weekly forecast, said cold and dry weather would prevail in most parts of the country for the rest of this week. And some parts of Balochistan and Kashmir may experience snowfall in hilly areas.