Storm Kills at Least 50 in Pakistan

Friday, July 20th 2007, 1:27 pm

By: News On 6

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) _ Lightning and heavy rain caused landslides that destroyed homes in two villages in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 50 people, officials said.

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

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

Sultan Ghani, the region's deputy police chief, said officers and doctors were sent to the villages, which are located in the mountains near a fast-flowing stream.

``It seems the lightning triggered landslides, and boulders struck homes,'' he said.

Some people were injured and taken to a hospital, he said.

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