Flash flooding in Pakistan’s mountainous northwest has tragically claimed the lives of 11 individuals, including several children, marking a somber start to the monsoon season. Disaster management officials confirmed the fatalities on Friday.
According to a report released late Friday by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial disaster management agency, “In the past 24 hours, flash floods and landslides have claimed the lives of 11 people — including four children and three women — while six others have been injured.”
Ten of those killed were in the Swat Valley, where, local media reports indicate, a flash flood swept away families situated on a riverbank. The flooding in the province has also caused damage to 56 houses, six of which were completely destroyed, the disaster agency’s report detailed.
The national meteorological service has issued a warning that the risk of heavy rain and potential flash floods will remain high until at least Tuesday.
This incident follows a period of severe weather for the South Asian nation; last month, at least 24 people were killed in powerful storms, as Pakistan experienced several extreme weather events, including strong hailstorms, throughout the spring.
Pakistan is recognized as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, with its 240 million inhabitants increasingly facing extreme weather phenomena.
