More than 130 people killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan flash floods after heavy rains

More than 130 people have been killed in the neighbouring countries Afghanistan and Pakistan after flash floods and heavy rains swept the region over the past few days, according to officials from both countries. Meanwhile, people in Pakistan’s Balochistan are reportedly bracing for more rains in the upcoming days. 

Situation in Pakistan 

At least 14 more people were killed after lightning and heavy rain in Pakistan, said the country’s officials, on Wednesday (Apr 17), raising the death toll after four days of unseasonal rainfall and extreme weather to 63. 

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Pakistan is witnessing the heaviest downpour in decades which has flooded villages on the country’s southwestern coast. 

The death toll reported from the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was highest after collapsing buildings killed 32 people, including 15 children and five women, said Khursheed Anwar, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Authority, as per the Associated Press.

Around 1,370 houses were also damaged in the province, said Anwar. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Punjab province reported 21 lighting- and collapse-related deaths. 

Balochistan, in the country’s southwest, declared a state of emergency following flash floods and is said to be bracing for more rains in the upcoming days amid the ongoing rescue and relief operations, on Wednesday. 

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At least 10 people have been killed in the southwestern province, according to the local officials. Zaheer Ahmed Babar, a senior official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) told the AP that the country is witnessing more than usual rainfall in April, due to climate change. 

According to Babar, Balochistan has witnessed 353 per cent more rainfall than normal, while the overall rainfall has been 99 per cent higher than the average across the country. 

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has witnessed 90 per cent more rain than usual this month, said the PMD official. According to Babar, it is also the wettest April that the country has witnessed in the past 30 years. 

At least 70 killed in Afghanistan 

The death toll in Afghanistan also rose to 70, on Wednesday, after extreme rainfall and devastating flash floods across 23 provinces in the country, as per media reports citing local officials. 

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Mullah Janan Sayeq, a spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management, on Wednesday, said that at least 2,500 animals have died and more than 2,000 houses, three mosques, and four schools have been damaged, reported the AP.

This comes a day after the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, in a post on X said more than 1,200 families have been affected due to the floods and that the UN and its partners are “assessing the impact and related needs and providing assistance.”

(With inputs from agencies)