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Parts of Pakistan, particularly in the northwest, were swept by heavy rains leaving at least 36 people dead and 50 others injured. According to authorities, several houses collapsed and roads were blocked due to landslides.
Out of the 30 people who died due to rains in the Swat Valley, Khyber district, most were women and children. Several people also died in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
Five people died in southwestern Baluchistan province after floods in the coastal town of Gwadar. Authorities used boats to evacuate people. According to Sarfraz Bugti, chief minister of Baluchistan, 700 homes had been damaged.
The reports said that authorities were sending emergency relief and heavy machinery to remove debris blocking highways.
Due to landslides, triggered by rainand snow, the Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan with China, was blocked at some places. The spokesman for the northern Gilgit Baltistan region, Faizullah Faraq said the snowfall was unusually heavy for this time of year.
Authorities have also advised the tourists against traveling to the north of Pakistan due to weather conditions. Last week, several visitors were stranded there because of heavy rains.
This year, Pakistan has witnessed a delay in winter rains, which started in February instead of November. Monsoon and winter rains cause damage in Pakistan every year.
In 2022, rains and floods in many parts of Pakistan, killed over 1,739 people, and affected around 33 million and displacing nearly 8 million people. The disaster also caused damaged worth billions of dollars.
In Afghanistan also, authorities said that harsh winter killed more than 5,000 livestock and destroyed 403 homes in different parts of the country in the past three days. The Taliban-run administration said it allocated 50 million afghanis ($681,000) in assistance.
Mohammad Naseem Moradi, head of the national meteorological department, said similar weather conditions were last observed in 2015.
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Published: 03 Mar 2024, 09:11 PM IST
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