13 killed as massive rains lash Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - At least 13 people were killed and several others injured as a fresh spell of monsoon rains lashed large swathes across Pakistan over the past 24 hours, officials said on Sunday.

Nine casualties, mainly because of landslides and roof collapses, were reported from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrents of rainwater and flashfloods washed away houses, roads and bridges, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, or PDMA, said in a statement.

Another four people were killed after their vehicle was hit by a landslide on Karakorum Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, police said.

Massive rains also struck parts of northeastern Punjab, southwestern Balochistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disconnecting road traffic, knocking off power, and causing rivers and streams to overflow.

The ongoing monsoon spell has so far claimed more than 100 lives since June 15, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).