PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Friday reported that cloud bursts and flash floods over the past 24 hours have claimed 229 lives and injured 40 people across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, media reported on Friday.
According to the PDMA, the fatalities include 184 men, 14 women and 12 children, while the injured comprise 17 men, 3 women, and one child.
District-wise figures show 91 deaths in Buner, 35 in Shangla, 23 in Mansehra, 21 in Bajaur, 20 in Swat, 15 in Battagram, and five in Lower Dir.
The PDMA report stated that 68 houses have been damaged in total, with 21 partially destroyed and 7 completely demolished.
Fatal incidents were recorded in Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla, and Battagram, with Bajaur and Battagram identified as the worst-affected districts.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif Minister directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) NDMA to continue close coordination with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and to utilise all available resources for rescue and relief operations.
Presiding over a meeting to assess the ongoing rainfall and flood situation across the country. PM Shehbaz directed concerned officials to take all-out relief efforts in flood-affected areas.
He directed that that aid supplies, including rations and medicines, be urgently dispatched to the affected regions via trucks on a priority basis.
The NDMA chairman briefed the prime minister on the damages caused by heavy rains and flooding
Rescue operations are ongoing in the disaster-hit areas, with PDMA teams, local authorities, and volunteers engaged in relief efforts.
The PDMA has warned that the spell of heavy rains is likely to continue intermittently until August 21, potentially aggravating the flood situation in vulnerable districts.
Survivors have urged the government to speed up rescue activities and arrange immediate shelter for those left homeless.
In Mansehra, lightning and a cloudburst also triggered flooding, with reports of further casualties and property losses.
Meanwhile, in Swat’s Mingora, Malam Jabba, Haji Baba, Khwazakhela, and Marghazar, low-lying areas have been submerged, flooding hundreds of homes and cutting off access to several localities.
Many residents, including women and children, have taken refuge on rooftops, while in some areas people are evacuating on their own due to the worsening situation. –Agencies
