Heavy rains claim at least 40 lives across Punjab
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LAHORE: At least 40 people have been killed in rain-related incidents across Punjab since Wednesday night, police and rescue sources said.
Fifteen deaths were reported from Lahore and a total of seven from the districts of Sialkot and Gujranwala.
“At least 25 people have been killed in different incidents of roof collapses in Punjab province during the last 24 hours,” Jam Sajjad, a spokesman for rescue services told AFP.
He said the dead included women and children, and 28 people had been injured.
Three of the dead died due to electrocution – one person in Lahore and two others in the eastern town of Kasur.
Rizwan Naseer, the director general of rescue services in Punjab confirmed the toll and said the injured were being moved to hospitals.
“We have been removing the debris to search for survivors and the injured, “Naseer said, adding that the toll was likely to rise as more information came in from around the province.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has announced Rs500,000 aid for the deceased persons and Rs100,000 aid for those who were injured in monsoon rains.
In Pakistani-administered Kashmir, 10 people were killed and four others injured, disaster management agency chairman Akram Sohail told AFP.
He said there had been some flash flooding in the Himalayan territory and warned that the rivers Jhelum and Neelum were close to overflowing in some places.
Also in Kashmir, three soldiers died in a mudslide near the de facto border with India, which like Pakistan claims the territory as its own.
The current spell is being generated by the first well-marked low pressure of the monsoon season that is moving towards Pakistan via Indian Rajasthan, moist current from the Bay of Bengal and a trough of westerly wave persisting over northern parts of the country.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department had sent out a warning that all rivers in Punjab would likely be in “very high” to “exceptionally high” flood from Sept 5 to 7 because of expected intensification of the current spell of fairly widespread rains reported from various parts of the country.
Pakistan has suffered deadly monsoon floods for at least the last four years – in 2013, 178 people were killed and around 1.5 million affected by flooding around the country.
The floods of 2010 were the worst in Pakistan's history, with 1,800 people killed and 21 million affected in what became a major humanitarian crisis.
The government has been criticised for not doing more to mitigate against the dangers posed by seasonal rains washing away homes and farmland.
Roads inundated, Wasa helpless
Heavy rains resulted in inundated roads in Lahore, resulting in traffic flow being severely affected, while some areas also experienced power outage after transformers fell due to strong winds.
Schedules of flights and trains has also been affected as a result.
Vehicles from Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) were seen on the roads but were unable to clear the water due to lack of proper equipment, including suction pipes.
The vehicles reportedly were also out of fuel, and the workers were seen using wipers and sticks.
Rain claims 15 lives in Lahore
Six of a family died when the roof of their residence caved in Lahore's Mozang Town. Two women were among the dead when the roof of the dilapidated house collapsed in Mozang's Chah Meeran.
In Lahore’s GOR-II area, two people died when a rooftop caved in due to the heavy downpour.
Moreover, in the provincial capital's Johar Town, one man died and four others were injured in a similar incident.
Also, a labourer was injured when a two-storey building under construction collapsed in Johar Town. A rescue operation went underway in the area.
Two siblings died in Manawa and one woman in Samanabad due to electrocution.
In Lahore’s Defence area, three people died due to rain-related incidents.
The heavy downpour has resulted in the inundation of many low-lying areas in Lahore.
16 more die across Punjab
Four people, including two children, were killed in separate incidents of roof collapse in the Godhpur and Green Town areas of Sialkot as a result of torrential rains.
Three people died when the roof of a house collapsed in the town of Kamoki in Gujranwala district.
The roof of the ramshackle edifice caved as the town saw torrential rains.
Three people died and 16 people were injured in different areas of Faisalabad due to crashing of roof.
In khanewal’s tehsil Kabirwala due to collapsing of the house’s wall killed two brothers and injured their sister.
In Chiroi and Bhambar areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir two people including a woman died when their house’s roof caved in.
In Narowal’s Chandwaal area, a seven-year-old girl died while five others were injured while another death was reported from Muzaffarabad.
Also read: Punjab faces threat of ‘exceptionally high’ flood
Authorities told to be on alert amid flood fears
A ‘red alert’ was issued by the Flood Fore Division on Thursday to authorities in Punjab’s central city Mandi Bahauddin, where water levels are fast rising, causing fears of widespread flooding.
The Chenab River is expected to experience a medium level flood, which will affect Gujrat, Hafizabad Gujranwala, Sialkot and adjacent areas.
Authorities said water levels are increasing rapidly in Qadirabad, where the water level rose to 116,000 cusecs from 81,227 cusecs.