Torrential rains, floods kill 110 people in Pakistan

Heavy rains and flooding have killed at least 110 people and affected over three lakh in many parts of Pakistan, the country's disaster management authority said on Monday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited flood-hit areas in Sialkot district over the weekend and directed the Punjab government to take every step possible to help the victims. He also directed the national disaster management authority chairman to visit the worst hit areas and provide emergency relief to the people.

The NDMA said more than 2400 sub-divisions have been fully damaged and around 2650 partially affected by torrential rains and floods. The agency said that more than 3,34000 people have also been affected.

Of those killed, 30 are from Punjab, 24 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 22 from Sindh, 16 from Balochistan, 12 from federally administrated tribal areas while others are from Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

The rain and floods also injured around 113 people and affected 770 villages across the country. Another 104 villages have been warned in Chinot area of Punjab due to high flood in the Chenab river. Five sub-divisions of Vehari district have also being alerted due to high waters in the Sutlej river flowing to Pakistan from India.

The NDMA has established 44 relief camps in flood-hit areas to accommodate affected people. The army is helping people in affected areas by moving them to safer places and providing them food, water and medicines.  

The rains also led to widespread problems in the urban areas with major cities like Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi facing flooding.

In Karachi, the heavy rains last week caused widespread damage in which around two dozen people were killed.           The meteorological office the country has predicted more rain in coming days.

Pakistan has not issued any appeal for international relief help so far. 2010 saw Pakistan's worst floods ever, affecting almost one of fifth of the country, killing more than 1800 people.

Image: Family members wait for rescue workers after their vehicle was submerged in flood waters on the outskirts of Karachi

Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters