PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan reached at least 267 on Friday, rescue and government officials said, as rains bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides.
The rising toll of the monsoon rains underscore the poor infrastructure in impoverished Pakistan, where underequipped rescue workers were struggling to reach people stranded in far-flung villages.
Pakistani TV showed striking images of people clinging to fences and other stationary items as water at times gushed over their heads.
The northwest appeared to be the hardest hit, and Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the province, said it was the worst flooding in the region since 1929.
At least 245 people died in various parts of that province over the last three days, said Mujahid Khan of the Edhi Foundation, a privately run rescue service that operates morgues and ambulances across the country.
In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, at least 22 people had been confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, the area’s prime minister, Sardar Attique Khan, told reporters.
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