Monsoon rains kill 200 in northern Pakistan

Islamabad: The death toll in seasonal floods in northern Pakistan has risen to 200, amid expectations of increased human and material losses in the affected areas.

The Pakistan Disaster Management Authority (PDM) said in a statement on Friday that heavy monsoon rains in the north of the country caused landslides and floods, killing 194 people in the past 24 hours.

The majority of the deaths were recorded in the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 180 people died due to these climatic fluctuations.

The PDM noted that nine people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five were killed in Gilgit-Baltistan. Most of the deaths were caused by floods and house collapses.

It also reported that five people, including two pilots, were killed in a rescue helicopter crash while en route to the affected areas.

The provincial government declared the severely affected mountainous areas of Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra, and Batagram disaster zones.

The Meteorological Department issued a warning of heavy rains in the northwestern regions and urged citizens to avoid "unnecessary presence in vulnerable areas."

The monsoon rains bring between 70 and 80 percent of South Asia's rainfall. These rains are vital for agriculture and food security, but they also cause significant damage, often resulting in hundreds of casualties and significant economic losses.

Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The heavy rains that have hit the country since the beginning of the summer monsoon season, which authorities have described as "extraordinary," have killed more than 320 people, nearly half of them children.

In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan's 255 million population, recorded a 73 percent increase in rainfall compared to the previous year and a higher death toll than the entire previous rainy season. In 2022, floods inundated a third of the country and killed 1,700 people.