Rains, flash floods kill 13 people in Balochistan, damage homes

Published March 4, 2019
Quetta: Motorists (left) face inconvenience due to flooding in C-Avenue on Saturday and (right) people commute during heavy snowfall. —Agencies/File
Quetta: Motorists (left) face inconvenience due to flooding in C-Avenue on Saturday and (right) people commute during heavy snowfall. —Agencies/File

Authorities say heavy rains and flash floods over the weekend in Balochistan have killed at least 13 people, injured a dozen others and damaged hundreds of homes.

Head of provincial disaster management authority, Imran Zarkon, on Monday said that nine districts of the province were affected by flash floods triggered by heavy rains and snow.

Hundreds of mud houses have been damaged and scores of goats and sheep washed away. He says infrastructure in some districts, like bridges and roads, was also damaged.

Zarkon said rescue and relief teams were sent to all affected districts and provided shelter, food and other needs to 28,000. In some places, they rescued people stranded by the flooding. He said relief work is continuing as the rains have stopped.

Provincial Information Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, in a press conference later, said that government provided rescue services to 28,000 people, including 5,000 who were given tents.

Meanwhile, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, today said that it rendered rescue and relief assistance to civil administration for a third straight day in various parts of Balochistan.

Army aviation helicopters were employed in Nushki district to rescue stranded people to safer places, the ISP said in a statement.

Approximately 1,300 kg of relief assistance comprising tents, pillows, quilts and ration packs were delivered through helicopters in affected areas of Mand and Turbat, it added. Cooked food was also provided to over 100 families in District Pishin.

Furthermore, Army and Frontier Corps troops rescued a bus, which had toppled due to flash flood at Shah Noorani, Hub. All 35 passengers were moved to safer place.

The military's media wing on Sunday had said that security forces had been moved to assist the civil administration in rescue and relief operations for flood victims in various parts of Balochistan.

An update shared by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said nearly 1,500 families had been rescued by Pakistan Army aviation helicopters in Dureji (Lasbela) and Qila Abdullah areas. Also, rations have been provided to some 3,500 families in the rain-affected areas of the province.

An emergency was declared in the flooded district of Qila Abdullah by the Balochistan government on Saturday and the army's help was sought to aid the local administration in rescue and relief efforts.

With additional reporting by Syed Ali Shah

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