Monsoon rains death toll jumps to 162 in Pakistan's Balochistan

 

Pakistani rescue teams recovered 15 more bodies in the country's southwest Balochistan province over the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 162 as heavy monsoon downpours continued to lash parts of Pakistan since mid-June, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Wednesday.

The killed include 54 children, 43 women, and 65 men, said the NDMA, adding that thousands of stranded people have so far been shifted from the most-affected areas of the province to safer places.

Balochistan has been the worst-hit by floods in the country, with nearly 14,000 houses completely or partially destroyed and flood waters washing away around 670 km of roads since the first spell of monsoon showers in mid-June, according to the provincial disaster management authority.

Meanwhile, rescue and relief activities are in full swing in the province, with authorities providing food and other necessary items to the affected people.

Owing to the huge losses in the province, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed round-the-clock monitoring of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation measures in the flood-affected areas.

xinhua