Death toll from Pakistan rainstorm rises to over 1,100

Aug. 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Pakistani emergency services have raised the provisional number of fatalities to more than 1,100 after the rainy season that has been plaguing Pakistan for weeks and has led the Government to declare the situation of calamity in more than fifty districts.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has evidence of at least 1,136 deaths, according to the bulletin released this Monday afternoon and which places Sindh (402 dead), Jaiber Pakhtunjuá (258) and Baluchistan. (244) as the most affected regions.

In addition, it has also registered at least 1,634 injured, although it is a provisional count because many areas are still completely flooded. In total, there would be more than 33 million people affected directly or indirectly.

Authorities estimate that more than a million homes have suffered some kind of damage, including more than 300,000 that have been completely destroyed. More than 735,000 head of cattle have also been lost and there are almost 3,500 kilometers of roads damaged.

Pakistan has suffered rains that almost triple the average values ​​for this time. In areas such as Baluchistan and Sindh, the current data is five times what would be considered normal, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator, Julien Harneis, has described the current crisis as “the greatest challenge” for Pakistan in decades. The organization claims $161 million to help one million people.

Agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have already announced emergency response actions. This last organization has recalled that in the areas affected by the storm, 40 percent of the children already suffered from stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition.