Pakistan death toll from heavy rains up to 53

ISLAMABAD // Heavy rains that caused flash floods and collapsed houses in different parts of Pakistan have killed 53 people over the past three days, a senior disaster management official today.

Civil and military authorities have launched rescue and relief efforts to deal with the crisis, said Brig Kamran Zia, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority.

Deaths have spanned the entire country, said Brig Zia. Twelve people were killed in the semiautonomous tribal region in the north-west, eight in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and three in the Pakistan-held part of the disputed Kashmir region. Twelve people also died in central Punjab province, 10 in southwestern Baluchistan, and eight in southern Sindh.

Flooding was especially bad in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, because of the southern city's faulty drainage system, said Brig Zia.

The same storm system hit Afghanistan, killing at least 58 people.

Pakistan regularly suffers from flooding during the monsoon season, which usually runs through July and August. Pakistan suffered the worst floods in its 66-year history in 2010, when floodwaters inundated one-fifth of the country, killing over 1,700 people. More than 20 million people were affected at the time.