ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s nationwide monsoon death toll since June 26 has risen to at least 72 after nine more people were killed in rain and wind related incidents across Punjab and 15 in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces over the past 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a report on Wednesday.
The latest fatalities came as heavy rains batter Punjab and KP, with disaster management authorities warning that the second spell of monsoon rains would continue in the country until July 24, raising water levels in several rivers and increasing the risk of flooding.
The NDMA said in its situation report of July 22 that 72 people had been killed in rain-related incidents since June 26. KP accounted for the highest number of deaths, 41, followed by 19 from Punjab while seven from Azad Kashmir and five from southwestern Balochistan province.
The NDMA report said 15 people were killed in rain-related incidents in KP in the last 24 hours and two were injured. It said nine people were killed in Punjab in the last 24 hours.
“Nine people were killed and 38 others were injured across Punjab during the last 24 hours after walls and roofs collapsed due to rain and windstorms,” Rescue 1122 spokesman Farooq Ahmad also said in a statement.
Separately, the Punjab PDMA said monsoon rains were increasing water flows in the province’s rivers, with low-level flooding reported at Kalabagh and Chashma on the Indus River and at Marala and Qadirabad on the Chenab River, while Khanqi was experiencing medium-level flooding.
“Due to rainfall in the upper catchment areas, there is a risk of further increase in river flows,” PDMA Director General Umar Abbas Meela said in a statement.
“Citizens living in riverbeds should immediately move to safer places,” he said, adding that flood relief camps had been readied in vulnerable areas and urging people to avoid recreational visits to rivers, canals and streams and ensure the use of standard boats and life jackets while crossing rivers.
According to the NDMA’s latest situation report, most of the monsoon deaths recorded since late June have been caused by collapsing houses, flash floods, lightning strikes, electrocution and drowning, highlighting the dangers posed by seasonal monsoon rains that regularly trigger urban flooding and infrastructure damage across Pakistan.
