Islamabad: Monsoon rains have claimed the lives of 72 people in Pakistan since the end of June, according to official figures released on Thursday. Among them are 30 children. A total of 187 people have also been injured, the Pakistani disaster management agency reported. The province of Punjab, through which major rivers such as the Indus flow, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in the west of the country have been particularly hard hit.
According to Nam News Network, the monsoon season in the subcontinent's summer months normally brings periods of particularly heavy rainfall. This year, the seasonal downpours have also brought severe flash floods and fatalities in neighboring Afghanistan. The Afghan Disaster Management Authority reported that at least 23 people had lost their lives there by Tuesday, with dozens more still missing.
The newspaper Dawn reported on a family of four who lost their lives in Waziristan, in western Pakistan, when their house collapsed. According to the report, livestock were also swept away by the floodwaters, and roads were blocked by landslides. Water levels in some of the country's rivers continue to rise, the newspaper reported.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the countries already severely affected by the consequences of climate change, with funding in these countries often insufficient to combat the effects of extreme weather events.