20 killed as pre-monsoon strikes northeast Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least 20 people were killed over the past 24 hours as pre-monsoon rains and flashfloods struck the northeastern Punjab province, rescue officials and local media reported on Monday.

Torrential rains hit the capital Islamabad, Punjab’s capital Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and other cities of the country's largest province over the past 24 hours, inundating roads, and knocking out power.

Most of the deaths were reported from Narowal district, which borders neighboring India, where at least nine people were killed by lightning strikes and roof-collapse accidents, the head of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Imran Qureshi, told reporters.

At least seven people drowned across the province, he added.

Over 20 people were also injured across the province in separate rain-related accidents, the provincial emergency service 1122 spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said in a statement.

Footage aired on local broadcaster Dunya News showed people wading through rainwater in Lahore as several roads and underpasses in the city were submerged due to massive rains.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck on several inundated roads in the city.

Monsoon rains have long been wreaking havoc on Pakistan in terms of human casualties, and destruction of already vulnerable infrastructures. However, climate change has further increased their frequency, ferocity, and unpredictability in recent years.