Islamabad: As Pakistan grapples with one of the deadliest monsoons, the death toll currently stands at 706 people in rain-related incidents since June 26, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
In its latest update late Tuesday, the NDMA also warned of more intense monsoon spells across the country until September 10.
The Sindh government also ordered all private and public educational institutions across the city to remain closed on Wednesday, after Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab declared a rain emergency.
More than 25,000 people have been rescued so far from flood-hit areas, NDMA chief Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik said.
Flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in the mountainous northwest have brought destruction since Friday in the worst spell of this year’s monsoon in the country. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was the worst hit, where 427 people have died so far, followed by 164 in Punjab, 29 in Sindh, 22 in Balochistan, 56 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and eight in the Islamabad region.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir visited northwest Pakistan’s worst flood-ravaged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the death toll due to torrential rains has risen to 380 since August 15.
The Prime Minister emphasised that “every available national resource will be mobilised to accelerate recovery efforts and restore normalcy in the affected areas.” Sharif also distributed compensation cheques worth Rs 2 million to affected people.
