Pakistan: 86 people killed, 151 injured since June 25 as rains monsoon rains wreak havoc

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 11 : As many as 86 people have been killed and 151 others injured in the recent monsoon rains since June 25, Pakistan-based ARY News reported citing the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The NDMA, in its report, stated that six people died and nine others were wounded in the heavy rains across Pakistan in the past 24 hours, according to ARY News.

According to NDMA data, so far, 86 deaths and 151 injuries have been reported, which includes 16 women and 37 children.

As many as 97 houses have also been damaged as torrential rain continues to play havoc across the country.

Punjab has the most number of people who died where 52 people died in the heavy rains. Meanwhile, 20 people died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and six lost their lives in Balochistan, according to an NDMA report, ARY News reported.

In April this year, the NDMA predicted that there is a 72 per cent chance of devastating floods in Pakistan in 2023. In a briefing to Public Accounts Committee (PAC), NDMA chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider said that the rapid rise in the temperature, glacier melting and early monsoon can result in floods, ARY News reported.

Haider said the NDMA and Pakistan's Climate Change Ministry have been monitoring 17 satellites and 36 flood early warning systems have been placed. He noted that Pakistan will end up in a huge economic crisis if catastrophic floods like last year happened now, the report said.

Two roof collapses in Lahore's Azhar Town and Shahdara Town neighbourhoods during the ongoing spell of rain across Pakistan's Punjab and injured at least nine people, Pakistan-based Dawn reported on Saturday. No significant injuries have been reported, according to the rescue agency, Dawn reported.

All the injured people were immediately taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, the report said. Punjab's relief commissioner Nabeel Javed visited the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) control centre where he was told of the impending danger of flooding of rivers.