Torrential rains, floods kill another 16 in northeastern Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan

A fresh monsoon spell flanked by massive floods killed another 16 people and injured dozens of others across Pakistan's northeastern Punjab province over the past 24 hours, as rescuers remained engaged in evacuating thousands of affected people, officials and local media reported on Sunday.

At least 13 fatalities were reported from provincial capital Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujranwala and Dear Ghazi Khan districts, bringing the death toll to 46 over the past four days, the provincial rescue department said in a statement.

Torrents of floodwaters continued to wreak havoc on several districts of Punjab, washing away embankments, submerging villages and crops, and forcing authorities to carry out controlled breaches in an attempt to save big cities.

Massive deluges washed away at least seven embankments in the Bahawalpur district, inundating dozens of villages and standing crops.

Punjab's Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told reporters in Lahore that the number of flood-affected people has jumped to over 2 million, whereas more than 700,000 people have so far been evacuated across the province.

Three newborns were killed in Dera Ghazi Khan district as they could not be shifted to the hospital due to flooded roads, local Broadcaster Geo News reported.

The government officials said they had sent a rescue team, however, the mother herself refused to go to the hospital as the condition of the triplets was good at that time.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast more rain over the next three days, which may exacerbate the already surging floods.

It is for the first time in the country's 78-year history that the three eastern rivers – Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej – have overflown simultaneously.