At least 19 more people were killed in Pakistan due to floods triggered by monsoon rains, taking the death toll to 22, officials said today
Islamabad: At least 19 more people were killed in Pakistan due to floods triggered by monsoon rains, taking the death toll to 22, officials said today.
Rains started last week in different parts of the country, causing floods in different rivers and streams. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that seven people were killed in Balochistan, three in Punjab province and two in Gilgit-Baltistan in the north.
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Officials of Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said torrential rains coupled with flash floods killed 10 people across the province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Earlier, three persons were killed in the province's Chitral district, devastated due to flash floods caused by heavy downpour.
The Upper Chitral has been virtually cut off from lower Chitral as majority of the bridges, road network, approach roads, water supply schemes, electricity installations were washed away in Upper Chitral by the gushing water in a jiffy.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has estimated Rs 1 billion damages to infrastructure. NDMA said that in the largest province of Punjab, 366 villages and about 2,00,000 people were affected, while crops on 2,05,366 acres of land were damaged.
In Balochistan, at least 106 houses were destroyed while another 80 were destroyed in Gilgit-Baltistan region due to rains and floods. The situation in Chitral has improved but roads and bridges swept away by floods have not been fully restored yet.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today visited Rahimyar Khan district in Punjab to see the measures taken by authorities to deal with floods.
"So far, I am satisfied with the official response but it is time that we should be alert to deal with any emergency situation," he said. Sharif, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak also visited Chitral and inspected the damages caused to the infrastructure.
The Prime Minister has announced Rs 500 million aid relief package for those affected in the district besides Rs 5 lakh for each destroyed house as compensation and waiving of the agriculture loans.
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