Pakistan floods death toll passes 1000

Flash floods triggered by destructive monsoon rains across much of Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people and injured and displaced thousands more since June, officials have said.

The new death toll came a day after the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, asked for international help in battling deadly flood damage. More than 33 million people have been displaced.

The government has declared an emergency to deal with monsoon flooding, which began in June and continues to wreak havoc in Pakistan.

The National Disaster Management Authority said on Sunday that 119 people had died in the previous 24 hours as heavy rains continued to lash parts of the country. That brought the death toll since mid-June to 1,033 with at least 1,456 injured.

The authority’s report the previous day said 45 people were killed in flood-related incidents from Friday to Saturday.

Many parts of Pakistan have become inaccessible, and rescuers are struggling to evacuate thousands of marooned people from flood-affected areas. Balochistan and Sindh provinces are the worst-affected areas.

Local media reported late on Saturday that the Kach dam near Ziarat city, 80 miles from Quetta, Balochistan’s capital, had broken due to heavy flooding – putting lives of local residents at risk. Other dams in the area have also reportedly been damaged.

There were also reports that protesters had blocked the Indus Highway, the only safe passage between Hyderabad and Karachi and northern Sindh and the rest of Pakistan at Naseerabad. The protesters claim the local lawmakers have endangered the population by diverting floodwater.

Three people were killed as a result of landslides and floods in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and the authorities in Nowshera asked for immediate evacuations amid a “very high flood” in the Kabul River.

The additional deputy commissioner of Swat said on Friday that roads spread over 130km had been damaged and 15 bridges were completely destroyed as the flood wreaked havoc and more than 100 houses and at least 50 hotels and restaurants were also destroyed.