3 children among five killed as hundreds displaced in Pakistan's Punjab province amid heavy rainfall

At least five people, including three children, were killed in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KP) province while hundreds were displaced when at least 50 villages were inundated after the Chenab River burst its banks in Punjab as heavy showers wreaked havoc in Pakistan, officials said on Thursday.

According to KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), a man was killed and two women were injured after the walls of their house collapsed due to a landslide in Abbottabad district on Wednesday night.

In Mansehra, four people, including three children, lost their lives after a landslide struck their house. The PDMA said the incident occurred on Wednesday night in Potha tehsil due to heavy rainfall.

Authorities evacuated more than 14,000 people from villages elsewhere in Punjab province earlier this month because of flooding caused by monsoon rain.

“You can say the seasonal rain is the cause of the rising water levels,” said Aurong Zaib, an official at the Chiniot Flood Control Room. “Due to river erosion, the low-lying villages have been affected by flooding,” he told reporters.

River levels have also been affected by neighbouring India opening sluice gates to release pent-up water into the Indus tributary.

Officials have announced plans to build protective embankments along the Chenab but warned more flooding is expected in coming days.

The summer monsoon delivers 70-80 per cent of South Asia’s annual rainfall between June and September.

It is vital for the livelihoods of millions of farmers in a region of around two billion people but also brings landslides and floods.

Scientists say climate change is making seasonal rain heavier and more unpredictable.

Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to long-term climate risk. It is struggling to recover from the devastating floods that inundated nearly a third of the country in 2022, affecting more than 33 million people.