Beijing, 4 Sep (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's National Disaster Management Bureau reported on 3 September that 57 people had been killed by floods in the past 24 hours. Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif held a high-level government meeting on the same day to continue to promote large-scale disaster relief work.
Since mid-June, Pakistan's unprecedented monsoon rains have triggered flooding and other disasters. According to the notification, about 33 million people were affected by the floods, and at least 1,265 people died as a result of the floods, including many children.
Affected residents rest in tents in Pakistan's Balochistan province on September 3. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Assad)
Pakistan dispatched troops and a large number of rescue workers to rescue a large number of victims. Reuters reported that the scale of the relief operation being carried out in Pakistan was "unprecedented".
Volunteers distribute food to victims in the flood-affected Jamshuru district of Southern Pakistan's Sindh province on Sept. 1. Xinhua News Agency
The Associated Press quoted Pakistani military spokesman Iftihar Babel as reporting that the military has used boats and helicopters to evacuate people and deliver relief supplies in remote areas; Established 147 shelters and hosted more than 50,000 homeless people; Medical assistance was provided to more than 83,000 people.
Currently, about a third of Pakistan's territory is hit by floods. In addition to heavy rainfall, the collapse of glacial lakes caused by the melting of glaciers in the mountains of northern Pakistan is also considered to be one of the causes of this round of flooding.
This is the scene of an aerial photo of a flood in Pakistan's Balochistan province on September 3. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Assad)
Akhtar Nawaz, an official of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, reported on the disaster at a high-level meeting on the 3rd and mentioned that the country has suffered four rounds of high temperatures and many forest fires this year, and "Pakistan is facing the grim reality of climate change."
Take the southwestern province of Balochistan, which earlier this year was one of the most severely forested areas, with large areas of pine forest and other vegetation burned down and, more recently, severe flooding. Balochistan's rainy season this year was 436 percent higher than the 30-year average, flooding the province's major rail and road networks and severely damaged telecommunications and power infrastructure, Reuters reported.
Livestock cross a makeshift bridge after flooding in the Swat district of Pakistan's Khyber-Pashtun province on Sept. 1. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Ahmed Kamal)
Across Pakistan, rainfall from June to August this year was nearly 190 percent higher than the 30-year average, at 390.7 millimeters. In Sindh, the worst-hit province, this year's rains in the rainy season are 464 percent higher than the 30-year average. The population of this southern province is about 50 million.
This is a tent taken on September 1 in the flood-affected Jamshuru region of Southern Pakistan's Sindh province. Xinhua News Agency
Pakistan's Minister of Planning, Development and Special Projects, Ahsan Iqbal, said on Aug. 29 that based on preliminary estimates, the toll from the floods exceeded $10 billion. The United Nations has called on the international community to provide some $160 million in aid to help Pakistan fight an "unprecedented climate disaster." To date, a number of countries have provided assistance to Pakistan. (Zheng Haoning)