STORMS LASH PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN, KILLING HUNDREDS

Tue 16 April 2024:

Hundreds of people have killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a result of lightning and torrential rains.

Officials said on Tuesday that at least fifty people were killed in Pakistan as a result of the storms that have been battering the nation, and they asked emergency services to stay on high alert. On the same day, 50 deaths were reported by Afghani authorities.

Most of the deaths in Pakistan were reported in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where torrential rains and flash floods triggered landslides, damaged homes and uprooted trees.

Rains caused dozens of houses to collapse in the northwest and in eastern Punjab province. A spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority said 21 people had died, with more rains expected this week.

A spokesman for the disaster management authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan, said 21 people died there.

Rain also lashed the capital, Islamabad, and killed seven people in southwestern Balochistan province. Streets flooded in the northwestern city of Peshawar and in Quetta, the Balochistan capital.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in televised remarks that he had ordered authorities to provide relief aid. Authorities have now declared a state of emergency in the southwest of the country.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has asked emergency services to remain vigilant amid the forecast of severer weather conditions.

Photos: Heavy rains, lightning in Pakistan kill at least 50 people

Many deaths have been reported in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan.

📸 [Muhammad Sajjad/AP Photo] pic.twitter.com/abDVo0aQYJ

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) April 16, 2024

Heavy flooding from seasonal rains has also killed at least 50 people in Afghanistan and injured 36 others over recent days, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) reported on Tuesday.

More than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed while about 200 livestock died, the Taliban authorities said earlier. The flooding also damaged large areas of agricultural land and more than 85km (53 miles) of roads, he said.

Afghanistan has provided aid to nearly 23,000 families, with flash floods reported in 20 of the country’s 34 provinces.

Pakistan Meteorological Department predicting another heavy spell of rain from April 16 to 22.

The Met Office has warned that heavy rainfall might generate flash flooding in local nullahs and streams of Balochistan, especially Gwadar, Kech, Awaran, Kalat and Khuzdar, on April 17 and 18, while Dir, Swat, Chitral, Kohistan, Mansehra, tributaries of the Kabul River, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir, from April 18 to 20.

The possibility of landslides in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan may affect the vulnerable locations from April 18 to 21. Windstorms, hailstorms, and lightening may damage standing crops and loose structures like electric poles, vehicles, and solar panels.

It asked farmers, especially in wheat-harvesting areas, to manage their crops keeping in view the weather conditions. It advised tourists to avoid unnecessary travel during the forecast period and asked all concerned authorities to remain alert and take necessary measures to avoid any untoward situation during the forecast period.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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