At least 13 people are dead after heavy monsoon rains and flooding wreaked havoc in several parts of Pakistan, officials said on Sunday, August 9, 2020.
Persistent rain flooded dozens of villages in the southern province of Sindh and the south-western province of Balochsitan during the last three days.
At least seven people were killed in Karachi, the country’s most populous city.
Additionally, six people lost their lives in Balochistan in the last 24 hours, officials said.
Hundreds of people were displaced by flooding in both the provinces.
Rescue workers were busy shifting people to safer places.
The military said on Sunday that it had rescued more than 100 people from Dadu district in Sindh.
“More than a dozen people are still missing in Balochistan,’’ Younus Aziz Mengal, a spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said.
Mengal said that the flooding had damaged bridges and highways, cutting off Gawadar, a port city on the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan’s Met office predicted 20 per cent more rain and urban flooding this monsoon season and asked authorities to take precautionary measures.
Flash floods, land erosion, cloudbursts, droughts and smog resulting in low air quality have been on the rise in Pakistan in recent years.
Climate experts say it is the impact of global warming, but also due to the country’s proximity to highly industrialised China and India.
