The death toll from two weeks of monsoon rains in Pakistan has risen to 55, authorities said.
Eight children were among the 12 people confirmed dead on Thursday amid fears of flash floods with the eastern city of Lahore seeing a record-breaking downpour the previous day, flooding many streets and disrupting normal life.
Since Wednesday, 19 people have died in the city due to collapsing roofs and electrocution, officials said, and Pakistan’s weather forecast agency warned of more rain to hit the city.
At least eight children died when a massive landslide hit Shangla, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, officials said.
Rescuers were trying to remove a large mud pile for fear that other missing children were buried.
Heavy rain continued to lash the impoverished nation, overflowing the main rivers in the Punjab province, Jhelum and Chenab, prompting the disaster management agency to be on high alert for fear of flash floods.
The rains have returned to Pakistan a year after a climate-induced downpour swelled rivers and inundated at one point one-third of the country, killing 1,739 people.
The floods also caused 30 billion dollars (£23.5 billion) in damage in cash-strapped Pakistan in 2022.
