Pakistan Declares Flood Alert after Rain Death Toll Exceeds 150

Pakistani authorities put relief agencies on high alert on Thursday to evacuate citizens from riverside areas, after the death toll from monsoon rains exceeded 150. Farooq Ahmed, spokesman for the regional relief agency, said in statements that thousands of relief workers and hundreds of boats were deployed in the central province of Punjab, after rainwater flooded the Indus River, which flows from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. For his part, Bilal Faiz, a commander in the relief agency, pointed out that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in the northwest of the country is the most affected by floods, landslides and glacial lake incidents that killed 57 people. He added that thousands of students were unable to go to school due to valleys near the borders with Afghanistan and China, after the waters swept away several bridges, highways and regular roads, while more than 50,000 local and international tourists were transferred to safe places via alternative routes after being trapped by waters in Himalayan me dicines. In a related context, a global relief agency warned that millions may be at risk, especially after about 154 people, half of them children, were killed in rain-related incidents since the start of the monsoon season in Pakistan. Pakistan Meteorological Department expected more rains to continue until August 14. Source: Qatar News Agency