20 killed as floods hit van carrying wedding party 

Peshawar: At least 20 people, including children and women, were killed today when flash floods swept away a van carrying a marriage party in northwest Pakistan.

The incident took place when the ill-fated van was caught in flooding in Tabai area while travelling from Bara to Bazaar Zakha Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to an official, eight women, two children and 10 men were killed in the tragic incident.

Rescue teams have retrieved the bodies and shifted them to a hospital in Landi Kotal, the official said. Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have badly affected Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent years.

According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), about 55 people have been killed and 35 others injured due to heavy rains in different parts of the country.

Annual spring and monsoon rains claim many lives each year in Pakistan, especially in rural areas where poorly built homes are susceptible to collapse. Over 120 people were killed in rains and landslides killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan region in April.

Over 80 people were killed and almost 300,000 affected due to heavy rainslast summer in Pakistan. Nearly 2,000 people were killed and millions others badly affected in the worst flooding in 2010 that covered almost a fifth of the country’s total land mass.

PTI