At least 14 people, including nine tourists, have been killed since the weekend in incidents related to heavy rains hitting various parts of Pakistan, the Associated Press news agency reported Tuesday.
The tourists went missing on Sunday when the car they were traveling in plunged into a river in the Neelam valley in the Himalayas in Pakistan’s Kashmir region, local police officer Khalid Aziz said.
Rescue teams were unable to find the tourists despite a massive search, Pakistani police said on Monday.
The police also stated that there is no hope of finding these people alive due to the high flow of the river where the accident occurred. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered the authorities to remain in place to deal with any situation.
Five other people have died since Saturday in various incidents related to the rains. Four people were killed in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province, and a child was killed in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.
The prime minister issued an alert asking disaster management authorities to remain vigilant to ensure people’s safety. Sharif also urged highway authorities to remain vigilant after rain-triggered landslides briefly blocked some roads over the weekend.
In the summer of last year, rains – which are expected to continue this week across the country – caused flooding that killed 1,739 people and affected 33 million other Pakistanis. Floods triggered by monsoon rains last year also caused $30 billion worth of damage to Pakistan’s economy.
Source: TSF
