ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: The death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) surged to 78 on Sunday, the disaster management bodies in both provinces said, as authorities carry out relief operations in the worst-affected districts. 

Heavy rains in Pakistan’s Punjab, Balochistan and KP provinces have inundates streets in several districts and damaged thousands of homes. 

“As many as 33 children, 15 men and 15 women are among those who died in rain-related incidents,” a report by the PDMA KP said about heavy rains that began in the province on April 12. It said the total number of injured has risen to 78. 

In Balochistan, the downpours have killed 15 people, including five children, six men and four women while the injured include 10 people. 

In a post on social media platform X on Saturday night, the PDMA said it was engaged in rescue and relief operations in District Nushki’s flood-affected areas with the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, district administration, and other departments. 

The current spell of showers is likely to continue till April 21, the PDMA said this week. The provincial government has released Rs110 million to be distributed among the affected families and dispatched aid, including tents, kitchen kits, blankets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and mattresses, to the affected areas, according to the authority.

As the rains are expected to continue intermittently until April 21, the PDMA said it had already a letter to all district administrations to remain alert and take precautionary measures.

Pakistan has received heavy rains in the last three weeks that have triggered landslides and flash floods in several parts of the South Asian country.

The eastern province of Punjab has reported 21 lighting- and roof collapse-related deaths, while Balochistan, in the country’s southwest, reported 10 deaths as authorities declared a state of emergency following flash floods.

In 2022, downpours swelled rivers and at one point flooded a third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods also caused $30 billion in damages, from which Pakistan is still trying to rebuild.