At least 63 people have been killed and nearly 300 have been injured in Pakistan’s Punjab province over the past 24 hours, according to provincial officials, adding at least 159 have died nationwide as a result of the rains since late June.
The rains on Thursday caused building collapses and flooding, with the majority of deaths coming from faulty roofs in older homes. Faisalabad, the eastern provincial capital, reported 15 fatalities, and Okara, Sahiwal, and Pakpattan, two more, in addition to Faisalabad.
In the morning, rescue teams used boats to evacuate families from villages further south’s riversides, but by afternoon the water had started to recede.
Women pleaded for help on rooftops, waving their shawls, and begging to be saved, according to Tariq Mehbood Bhatti, a 51-year-old farmer from a Ladian village.
After a sharp rise in the water level, residents of low-lying areas close to the Nullah Lai River, which flows through Rawalpindi city, which is a suburb of Islamabad, were ordered to leave.
A disaster agency spokeswoman stated that “rescue teams are on standby for more evacuations.”
To keep people at home, the Rawalpindi government made Thursday a public holiday.
According to Kamal Hyder, a reporter for Al Jazeera from Punjab’s Chakwal district, “heavy rains]are]causing extensive damage and also loss of life” throughout the Punjab region.
He claimed that the military is using helicopters to evacuate people who are now surrounded by water because “rains have swept away small dams that have burst at banks.”
Over the past few years, Pakistan has experienced devastating floods. Hyder continued, “This monsoon season is not different.” According to him, experts have warned that the nation may experience extreme weather in the near future.
According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 103 people have died and 393 have been injured in Punjab alone as a result of the monsoon rains that started in late June. Six livestock animals were killed, and more than 120 homes had been damaged.
More than 1, 000 homes have been damaged, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which has reported the death toll of at least 159 people nationwide since June 25.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a high flood alert for the northern town of Mangla, where high water inflows were anticipated to be expected to be high. Authorities warned that nearby communities could be in danger if adjacent streams overflow in the next 24 hours.
Source: Aljazeera
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