LAHORE: At least 50 people including eight children have so been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials said. “Fifty deaths have been reported in different rain-related incidents all over Pakistan since start of the monsoon on June 25,” national disaster management official told AFP, adding that 87 people were injured during this period.

Majority of the deaths were in Punjab province and were mainly due to electrocution and building collapses, official data showed. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bodies of eight children were recovered from a landslide in Shangla district, according to emergency service Rescue 1122’s spokesman Bilal Ahmed Faizi. He said rescuers were still searching for other children trapped in debris.

Officials in Lahore said it had received record-breaking rainfall on Wednesday, turning roads into rivers and leaving almost 35 percent without electricity and water this week. Meteorological Department has predicted more heavy rainfall nationwide in days ahead and warned of potential flooding in catchment areas of Punjab’s major rivers.

Province’s disaster management authority said Friday it is working to relocate people living along waterways.

Published in The Daily National Courier, July, 08 2023

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