KARACHI: Dozens of people have been killed in accidents and floods caused by torrential rains that have lashed country for days on end, officials said Friday. Precipitation reached record levels in Karachi, the country's largest city, where waist-deep rivers of trash-strewn floodwater swept down streets and into homes and businesses.
Eighteen people died in the city on Thursday "in various rain-related accidents," a police spokeswoman said. A record 230mm of rain was recorded in Karachi, home to about 20 million people, compared to the average of 130mm for the time of year, the city's meteorological service chief Sarfraz Ahmed said. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16 people were killed in flash floods Friday, with landslides damaging 67 houses, said provincial disaster management authority Taimur Ali. And in Punjab, local officials said four workers were killed when a warehouse roof collapsed Friday.
The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing water supplies across the Indian subcontinent, home to one-fifth of the world's population.
But each year, the intense rainfall also brings a wave of destruction. In total, floods killed 103 people in August in Pakistan, including 54 in Karachi, 33 in Punjab and 16 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to official figures compiled by AFP.-AFP
NNI adds: Floods following monsoon rains in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have taken the lives of over 14 people and injured eight.
The areas most affected by the floods are Upper Chitral, Kohistan and Swat. Over 50 houses in the areas have been damaged. Of these 29 houses were completely destroyed.
Residents of the areas are being relocated to safer locations by the army and other security officials. A bridge in Swat was also damaged after which contact with the area has been lost.
According to Swat District Commissioner Mirza Aslam, six people have been killed and 11 missing following the floods in Madyan.
The KP government has announced an aid of Rs500,000 for all those families who have lost loved ones and Rs100,000 for the injured. According to the Met Department, more rain is expected in the province in the upcoming week. Authorities have been alerted and an emergency has been imposed.