Cape Town – Millions of people have been hit by one of the worst floods in Pakistan’s history and officials and locals have called on international assistance for humanitarian aid.
According to Xinhua News Agency, at least 28 people were killed and 48 others injured in the past 24 hours after heavy monsoon rain triggered flash floods and other rain-related incidents.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been the worst-hit region with 16 killed and 25 injured. At least 11 children were among those who lost their lives.
The disaster management body said the total death toll had risen to 1 061 since the start of the monsoon season, with 1 575 others injured and 992 871 houses, 170 bridges and 157 shops destroyed.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told Reuters that “flooding” didn’t sum up what had been happening in Pakistan.
“It’s been absolutely devastating … I haven’t seen destruction of this scale,” said Bhutto-Zardari.
“We are devastated by climate disasters like this time and time again; we have to adapt within our limited resources,” he said.
Indo-Asian News Service reported that Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail said the floods had inflicted a loss of at least $10 billion on the country’s economy.
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