About 39 people have been killed in Pakistan after days of uncommonly heavy rains hit the country’s southwest region.
Some of those who were killed had been farmers struck by lightning while harvesting wheat, according to the authorities.
Pictures seen online also reveal swathes of farmland inundated by rainwater. Flash floods have also interrupted electricity supplies and transportation networks.
Pakistan has been experiencing an increase in extreme weather events, as a result of climate change.
In 2022, a third of the country was completely flooded by unprecedented flooding, slaying over 1,700 people and wounding thousands. Due to that disaster, millions were left homeless and access to safe drinking water became difficult for months after.
Some of the areas affected by the 2022 floods, included Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and are being impacted again by the recent storms.
With more rain expected in the coming days, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has also issued warning of landslides and flash floods.
Pakistan’s most populated province Punjab has suffered the highest death toll so far, with 21 people killed by lightning between Friday and Sunday, according to AFP News Agency.
Heavy flooding has also been reported in Afghanistan.
33 people have so far been killed, leaving hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed.
Scientists have said that global warming is likely to have played a role in the harsh floods that hit Pakistan in 2022.
Pakistan has been ranked as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the UN’s Global Climate Risk Index.
