Nearly a week of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods across Pakistan have killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, officials say.
The government announced the death toll on Monday and said the fatalities were caused by several days of abnormally strong downpours.
They included 22 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, 13 in the eastern province of Punjab, seven in Sindh in the south and four in Balochistan in the southwest, the National Disaster Management Authority and provincial emergency officials said.
“We are expecting above-normal rains during the monsoon season, and alerts have been issued to the concerned authorities to take precautionary measures,” Irfan Virk, a deputy director of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, told The Associated Press news agency.
Virk said forecasters cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the devastating floods in 2022.
Severe rains then inundated a third of the country, killing 1,737 people and causing widespread destruction.
The deaths from the past week include 13 tourists from a family of 17 who were swept away on Friday. The other four family members were rescued from the flooded Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rescuers found 12 bodies from the family, and divers continued searching on Monday for the remaining victim, said Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman.
The incident drew widespread condemnation online over what many called a slow response by emergency services.
On Sunday, the National Disaster Management Authority had warned of potential hazards and advised people against crossing rivers and streams.
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