Islamabad, Europe Brief News – Historic monsoon rains and flooding in Pakistan have affected more than 30 million people during the last few weeks.
The new death toll came a day after Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif asked for international help in battling deadly flood damage in the impoverished Islamic nation.
Sharif said that 33 million people had been impacted by the floods – about 15% of Pakistan’s whole population – and blamed “the horrors of climate change” for the natural disaster.
However, construction in flood-prone areas, endemic corruption, lack of investment in infrastructure, scant regard for the environment and poor preparedness for natural disasters also exacerbate the problems when flooding happens.
“Thirty-three million have been affected in different ways. The final homeless figure is being assessed,” climate minister Sherry Rehman said.
In a news conference on Thursday, Rehman described the floods as a “humanitarian disaster of epic proportions” that had left thousands without food and shelter.
“We need to ask not just the provinces and Islamabad, it is beyond the capacity of any one administration or government to rehabilitate and even manage the rescue and relief,” she added.
The monsoon season, which began earlier than normal this year, has lashed Pakistan with particularly heavy rains and rescuers have struggled to evacuate thousands of marooned people from flood-hit areas. The crisis forced the government to declare a state of emergency.
