At least 45 individuals have died and 105 others were wounded in weather-related accidents throughout the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of northwest Pakistan during the past 10 days, the PDMA announced Sunday.
In a document detailing the destruction caused by constant rainfall since March 25, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stated that of the 45 total deaths, 23 are minors, 17 are adult males, and 5 are females, while the injured include 45 men, 16 women, and 44 children.
The torrential downpours led to roof and wall failures in several districts across the territory, the PDMA briefing noted, emphasizing the extensive human toll and physical damage throughout the province.
Approximately 442 homes have been impacted, with 382 suffering partial damage and 60 being entirely leveled across more than twenty districts.
The PDMA statement also confirmed that emergency recovery and relief efforts are currently active, with the PDMA, Rescue 1122, local administrations, and additional relevant departments working in tight synchronization.
In the meantime, the PDMA Director General cautioned that a new period of precipitation is anticipated across different sections of the province through April 9. He urged travelers to skip non-essential trips, specifically to high-risk or unstable zones, and to strictly adhere to formal warnings and safety notifications provided by state authorities.
Rain, storms kill 77 people in Afghanistan in 2 weeks
Severe weather conditions have triggered widespread rainfall across Afghanistan since late March, resulting in flooding, landslides, and the destruction of residences and agriculture.
“Since March 26 till today, 77 people have been killed and 137 wounded across the country because of the floods and rains,” Afghanistan’s Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) spokesman Mohammad Yousuf Hammad told AFP on Saturday.
Hammad added that 26 people were killed and 48 were wounded across the country in the past 48 hours due to rains, floods, landslides and lightning.
Afghanistan’s recent fatalities include a young child who perished in a flash flood in southeastern Ghazni on Saturday morning while playing with peers, according to provincial police reports. Two additional children also drowned in separate districts within the same province. These incidents occurred just hours after three individuals died in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province when their home’s roof caved in due to the heavy rains, the provincial disaster management office confirmed.
The persistent downpours have also caused multiple road blockages, with Kabul authorities reporting a partial shutdown on Friday of the main highway connecting the capital to the city of Jalalabad.
Hammad said rainfall since the start of spring “can strengthen the underground sources of water and give growth to the agriculture sector”.
But he said it can also cause human suffering and financial loss.
