Torrential rain has triggered flooding, destroyed hundreds of houses, and killed more than 150 people in the past month.Heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan’s Punjab province have killed at least 63 people and injured nearly 300 in the past 24 hours, provincial officials said, bringing the nationwide death toll from the rains to at least 159 since late June.
The downpours on Thursday caused flooding and building collapses, with most of the deaths caused by the roofs of weaker homes failing. Lahore, the eastern provincial capital, reported 15 deaths, Faisalabad nine, and the farming towns of Okara, Sahiwal and Pakpattan several more.
Rescue teams used boats to evacuate families from villages along riversides further south in the morning, but the water had begun to recede by the afternoon.
“Children were screaming for help, and women stood on rooftops, waving their shawls and begging to be rescued,” said Tariq Mehbood Bhatti, a 51-year-old farmer in Ladian village.
Residents living in low-lying areas near the Nullah Lai River, which runs through Rawalpindi city, neighbouring the capital Islamabad, were ordered to evacuate after a sharp rise in the water level.
“Rescue teams are on standby for more evacuations,” a spokeswoman for the disaster agency said.
The Rawalpindi government declared a public holiday on Thursday to keep people at home.
People wade through the flooded street during the monssoon rain in Rawalpi …
