Islamabad– The death toll of Pakistan’s catastrophic flooding is rising steadily as the cash-strapped country struggles to rescue and care for millions of people displaced by the surging waters, the dpa reported.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that 1,162 people, including 384 children and 231 women, had died due to flooding since mid-June. The numbers are expected to further increase in the coming days. More than 33 million people in some 116 of Pakistan’s 160 administrative districts have been affected by the floods, with at least 72 districts being declared disaster areas.
Hundreds of thousands of people are currently living without food, clean water, shelter and basic basic medicines.
The floods inundated over 2 million acres of agricultural land, destroying crops of cotton, rice, dates, tomato, chilli and other vegetables.
On Tuesday, the United Nations issued a flash appeal for $160 million in emergency aid to help Pakistan.
Source: Saudi Press Agency