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Deaths from flooding in Pakistan rises to 42

In this file photo, Pakistanis wade through a flooded road caused by heavy monsoon rainfall in Karachi, Pakistan. (© AFP)

Authorities in Pakistan say the death toll from flash floods caused by torrential rains in the country has climbed to 42 amid the destruction of more homes.

The National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement on Monday that 75 houses were damaged in different parts of the southwestern province of Balochistan, and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province near the border with Afghanistan.

It said that at least 70 people have also sustained injuries.

Additionally, the death toll from the collapse of a coal mine shaft caused by the severe rainfall in the mountainous northwestern Orakzai tribal district has climbed to seven. Ten people have also been injured.

“The rescue operation has ended and we have seven people dead and 10 injured. Sixteen others have been rescued from the mine,” Zubair Khan, a top government official in the district, said.

More than 30 miners were trapped after the shaft caved in amid heavy downpours on Sunday.

The Pakistani army said in a statement that it had dispatched over 100 troops from the army and paramilitary Frontier Corps to the area to help with rescue operations and provide medical support.

Pakistan experiences severe weather patterns every year, which have affected millions of people, claimed hundreds of lives and wiped out millions of acres of farmland in recent years.

Monsoon, a rainy season that starts from mid-July and lasts till end of August, strikes Pakistan hard each year.

Torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 Pakistanis across the country during the rainy season last summer.

In 2010, flooding also killed 1,200 people and impacted one-fifth of the population of 180 million.


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