50% of Pakistan’s 266 Monsoon Victims Since Late June Were Children: NDMA

Lahore-(Asif Iqbal)-Nearly half of the 266 people killed in Pakistan’s monsoon season were children—caught unaware during their national school holidays, officials confirmed Friday. In Punjab, where precipitation has soared to 70% above last year’s levels, the scale of the tragedy is especially acute: the province has seen 144 fatalities and 488 injuries, out of a national battlefield of 628 injured and 266 dead since late June. Mazhar Hussain of the PDMA emphasized the urgency of public safety and preventive measures following this devastating toll,

Heavy rain alert issued for Pakistan

Children are very vulnerable to this situation. They are playing in the water, bathing, and electricity shocks can happen,” he told AFP. “That’s why their ratio is higher than any other, especially because it’s a holiday in Punjab, so schools and colleges are closed.”

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that 266 people had been killed across the country since the monsoon rains hit on June 26, with 126 of them children.

Flash floods, building collapses, lightning strikes and drownings were among the causes of death. Hundreds more have been injured.

An agency spokeswoman told AFP this week that the heaviest rains usually start later in the monsoon season.

“Such death tolls are usually seen in August, but this year the impact has been markedly different,” she said.

Rains are expected to strengthen in August, the national disaster agency has warned.

A landslide this week caused by torrential rains swept away several cars in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, a popular tourist destination marked by towering mountains, deep valleys and wide rivers.

In late June, at least 13 tourists were swept to their deaths while sheltering from flash floods on a raised river bank.

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Monsoon season brings South Asia 70% to 80% of its annual rainfall, and runs from late June until September in Pakistan.

The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers, but also bring destruction.

In 2022, monsoon floods submerged a third of the country and killed 1,700 people.