Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohistan tehsil was reeling on Sunday as officials continued to call for help in rescuing people stranded in areas “completely cut off” due to the deadly floods that have laid waste to lives and infrastructure across the country.
A day earlier, some 350,000 people were evacuated from Charsadda and Nowshera as powerful flash floods in the province caused the Kabul River to swell, sweeping away a large bridge overnight and cutting off some districts from road access.
Today’s developments
- Death toll since mid-June tops 1,000
- Kandia tehsil officials seek help
- Evacuations continue
- Sindh braces for fresh deluge from swollen rivers in the north
- PM Shehbaz receives briefing in Balochistan; announces Rs10bn for province
- COAS to visit Sindh and Balochistan
The National Disaster Management Authority said the death toll from the monsoon rains had reached 1,033 since mid-June, with 119 killed in the previous 24 hours.
He added that locals made their way through perilous conditions on foot — with some travelling for two days — and informed him that an estimated 2,000 houses had been washed away in the floods.
Haq said there is an acute need for food and medicine in Kandia as cases of diarrhoea have surged.
Separately, Lower Kohistan Assistant Commissioner Saqib Khan told Dawn.com that the military has been requested to fly in helicopters to rescue stranded families there since “there is no road route, the communication system and electricity in the affected areas [has broken down]”.
Hours later, Saqib Khan said that the helicopter had arrived. “With the grace of God our rescue is here, and the electricity has been restored.”He said teams have been scrambled there under the supervision of District Emergency Officer Sajid Ali Yousafzai and Assistant Commissioner Saqib Khan and a rescue operation was underway.
