ISLAMABAD: The death toll from the devastating floods in Pakistan has risen to over 1,300 as international aid has picked up pace in the last few days, with most of the flights coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey.
Pakistan has so far received 41 flights carrying humanitarian aid from the UAE, Turkey, China, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, France and a number United Nations agencies.
According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, the UAE and Turkey have so far sent 16 and 11 flights, respectively, carrying relief goods.
The United Nations has already issued an international appeal for $160 million to help flood victims, though Pakistani officials say the damage far exceeds $10 billion.
“1,325 people have died and 12,703 injured since mid-June,” Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed on Tuesday, saying most of the casualties had taken place in the country’s Sindh and Balochistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Sindh has so far reported 522 deaths while about 260 people have lost their lives in Balochistan.
As the country begins its rehabilitation activities, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) also announced to send relief goods to Pakistan from Dubai.
“UNHCR starts airlifting humanitarian supplies for Pakistan’s flood affected people from Dubai,” it said in a Twitter post. “The first two of nine flights, with emergency relief items for Sindh province, landed in Karachi [today]. Items are being rushed to Sukkur, Jamshoro.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is also expected to visit Pakistan this week to express solidarity with the victims of the catastrophic flood.
