Death toll from Pakistan floods jumps to 1,355

KARACHI, Pakistan

The death toll from devastating floods across Pakistan has jumped to 1,355, with 12 fresh casualties reported in the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Wednesday.

Of the fresh fatalities, six were reported from southern Sindh province, whereas three people lost their lives in flood-related mishaps in southwestern Balochistan and two in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) stated.

A total of 542 people have died in Sindh since June 14, followed by 292 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 263 in Balochistan, according to the NDMA.

It said 191 people have died in the northeastern Punjab province.

Since June 14, a total of 12,722 people have been injured in the rain and flood-related incidents across the country.

Monsoon season in Pakistan, like in other countries in the region, usually results in heavy rains, but this year has been the wettest since 1961.

Currently, one-third of the country is underwater as the massive rains and melting glaciers have caused the country’s main Indus River to overflow, inundating vast swaths of plains, and farms.

Destructive rains and floods have also washed away hundreds of thousands of houses, bridges, roads and buildings across the South Asian nuclear country, which is already grappling with political and economic turmoil.

Over 33 million of the country's approximately 220 million population have been affected by the raging floods, causing a staggering loss of $10 billion in damages to an already weakened infrastructure.

Almost 45% of the country's cropland has already been inundated by the floods, posing a serious threat to food security and further adding to the already skyrocketing inflation.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are also dealing with outbreaks of waterborne, skin and eye diseases, with health experts warning of a higher number of deaths from diarrhea, gastrointestinal, typhoid, malaria dengue, and other infections than from rains and floods.