Official: Flash floods following torrential rains kill 29 people in northwestern Pakistan

By Riaz Khan

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani official says flash floods following torrential rains in the country’s northwest this week have killed 29 people.

A spokesman for the disaster management authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said Wednesday that most of the casualties died when their homes collapsed.

Adnan Khan says 75 people were also reported injured in the floods. He says the rains, which started on Monday, damaged about 1,400 homes in the province.

Pakistan suffers every year from flash floods caused by monsoonal rains.

In addition to the flood victims, Khan says three soldiers are missing following an avalanche in the village of Surgulu Binshahia.

Pakistan suffered the worst in 2010, when floodwaters inundated one-fifth of the country, killing over 1,700 people. More than 20 million people were affected at the time.

11:25ET 06-02-13