ISLAMABAD, July 31 (KUNA) -- Hundreds of people have been killed, stranded and missing in widespread rains, triggering landslides and flash floods , in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan. The floods have been recorded as worst in decades in Pakistan.
According to latest figures, released by control rooms that the provincial governments have established in Pakistans Punjab, Baluchistan, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa (KP) provinces, more than 550 people have been killed, hundreds of thousands stranded and an equal number of people are missing.
The KP is the worst hit of the three provinces. Its information minister by Friday night confirmed more than 420 casualties. Television footages are showing roads, animals, people being swept away in flood water like straws with rescuers bravely struggling to save as many as they could.
Similar reports have also been received by Pakistan-side Kashmir. The Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique talking to newsmen said more than fifty people have been reportedly killed and links with three valleys have been disconnected.
In Punjab and Baluchistan provinces, dozens of villages have been submerged and infrastructure badly damaged.
Similar reports are also reaching here from Afghanistan. According to media reports, at least sixty people have been killed in rain and flood related incidents in Afghanistan. The northeastern Kapisa and the eastern Laghman provinces are worst affected, but deaths and damage have also been reported in nearby Nangarhar and Kunar province. Reports suggested that hundreds of families have been displaced by floods in Balkh province. - Kuna