KARACHI, Pakistan
Authorities evacuated thousands of people after raging floods inundated further regions of Pakistan's northeastern Punjab province over the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday.
More than 24,000 people and 4,437 animals were evacuated from Jalalpur Pirwala town in Multan district, while nearly 20,000 more were displaced in remote Muzzafergarh district after deluges submerged entire villages and farmlands and destroyed crops along the Chenab river, according to a statement from the provincial rescue department.
Another 9,000 people were evacuated from other parts of Multan in the last 24 hours, the statement added.
The rescue operation is still underway in Chenab's surrounding low-lying areas.
The total number of flood-related deaths in Punjab has jumped to 112, with 4.7 million people affected, according to Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed.
Over 2.6 million people have already been rescued from flood-affected areas across the province," he added.
The catastrophic floods, the worst in the country's history, have also displaced tens of thousands of downstream residents in southern Sindh province; however, there have been no major losses of life or infrastructure in the region.
The mighty Indus River is experiencing high to medium flooding as floodwaters move downstream, according to the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD).