The number of deaths after devastating floods in northern India and Pakistan continued to increase on Friday, local authorities in the two countries confirming that more than 300 people were killed.
Pakistan: more than 300 dead
In north and northwest Pakistan, the sudden floods killed at least 300 people while the rescuers evacuated 1,300 blocked tourists from a mountainous region struck by landslides. According to local officials, at least 35 people have been missing in these regions.
Most deaths in Pakistan have occurred in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
“So far, through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 110 people have died due to clouds, sudden floods and roof collapse,” PDMA spokesman Anwar Shehzad told the AFP press agency.
The helicopter crash kills five on board
A helicopter participating in rescue efforts crashed on Friday in Pakistan, the chief minister of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said in a statement.
“A provincial government’s mid -7 helicopter, transporting rescue goods for the areas affected by the Bajaur rain, crashed in the Mohmand district region due to bad weather,” Ali Amin Gandapur said in a statement. “Five crew members, including two pilots, were killed.”
Seven other people died in cashmere administered by Pakistan, the regional disaster management authorities said.
The meteorological service has published an alert for northwest Pakistan, urging people to avoid an “unnecessary exhibition to vulnerable areas”.
India: 60 dead, 80 missing in Chosti
The rescuers looked for survivors in the Himalayan village from Chositi in India to cashmere administered Friday after the floods killed at least 60 people.
The officials said that at least 300 people were saved on Thursday, but many of the 200 missing people were taken.
Chositi was crowded due to a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Machail Mata, a local Hindu deity. The village is the last place accessible by vehicles before the pilgrims are more than 8 kilometers (almost 5 miles) of the temple.
“Nature has tested us. In the past few days, we had to face the landslides, cloudbursts and other natural calamities,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the start of a speech of almost two hours on the 79th day of independence from the country.
The cloud explosions have worsened by climate change
Intense rains on small areas, called Cloudbursts, are becoming more and more common in the Himalayan regions of India and northern Pakistan, which makes these areas subject to sudden floods and landslides.
While the monsoon season from June to September leads to about three -quarters of the annual precipitation of South Asia, which is crucial for crops, it also brings landslides and sudden floods.
Experts claim that climate change has aggravated clouds in recent years, and damage has increased due to unforeseen development in mountainous areas.
A study of global meteorological allocation Pakistan’s precipitation from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier, especially in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to climate change.
Published by: Wesley Dockery
