Floods claim 22 more lives in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AA) – The death toll from Pakistan’s ongoing floods has risen to 1,508 as 22 more people, including six children, have died in flood-related incidents in the last 24 hours, official statistics showed on Friday.

Thirteen of the new fatalities were reported from southwestern Balochistan province, eight from southern Sindh province, and one from northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

A total of 646 people have died in Sindh since June 14, followed by 306 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 294 in Balochistan, the NDMA data shows.

It said 191 people have lost their lives in the northeastern Punjab province, 48 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and 22 in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. There were 536 children and 308 women among the 1,508 fatalities.

A total of 12,758 people have been injured in the rain and flood-related incidents across the country.

Property damage is also increasing, with over 1.81 million houses damaged, including 581,521 completely destroyed and 927,543 livestock killed, according to the authority.

Rains and floods have also washed away 12,718 kilometers (7,902 miles) of roads, 390 bridges and buildings across the South Asian country.

Over 33 million of the country’s approximately 220 million population have been affected by the floods, causing a staggering loss of over $30 billion.

Almost 45% of the country’s cropland has already been inundated by the floods, posing a serious threat to food security.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are also dealing with outbreaks of waterborne skin and eye diseases.

So far, Pakistan has received 104 flights of humanitarian aid from Türkiye, the UAE, China, the US, Uzbekistan, France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Nepal, Turkmenistan, UNICEF, UNHCR, and the World Food Program.

According to the Foreign Ministry, over $300 million has been pledged to the relief efforts by many friends and partners.

“… we are not counting in this the US$ 370 million by World Bank, which was right at the beginning re-purposed for various focus areas including for cash transfers to the affectees, so that is separate,” said Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, on Thursday.

On Aug. 30, the UN and Pakistan’s government issued a flash appeal for $160 million to cope with the devastation caused by the unprecedented rains and floods, but despite the passing of two weeks, the UN has only received $38 million.