Rain, flash floods kill 78 in Pakistan
PAKISTAN: At least 78 people died and dozens were injured as
torrential rains and flash floods wreaked havoc in Pakistan over the
past three days, a government spokesman said Monday.
Heavy monsoon rains which began falling last week destroyed more than
1,600 houses while damaging a further 5,000, Irshad Bhatti, a spokesman
for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) told AFP.
“A total of 78 people have died and 68 injured in rains and flash
floods in the country so far,” he said, adding that the casualties were
caused mostly by houses collapsing and people being caught in floods.
The worst-hit region was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where 32 people
have died and 26 were injured in several districts, he said, adding that
83 houses were totally destroyed and another 4,200 were partially
damaged, he said.
In the northwestern district of Swabi eight Afghan refugees were
killed when the roof of their mud house collapsed overnight, police
official Mohammad Ali said. The dead, who were members of the same
family, included two women and six children aged between one and 12
years he said.
AFP |