'Thirty dead' in Pakistan floods

Advertisement

The monsoon floods have destroyed thousands of homes

More than 30 people have died in torrential rain and floods in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The rains have also destroyed more than 1,000 houses, a number of bridges and at least one girls school in the area.

Officials said hundreds more houses had been damaged across the province after four days of rainfall. Some of the dead were killed when their roofs collapsed.

South-westerly winds bring heavy rains throughout South Asia in the June to September monsoon season.

Officials at a flood monitoring centre set up by the government of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) told the BBC Urdu service that at least 12 people had been killed in areas close to Peshawar, the provincial capital.

It said that the Kabul and Swat rivers that flow near the capital had both broken their banks.

At least six people, including two children, were reported killed in flash floods that hit NWFP's Bannu district overnight on Tuesday.

Weather experts are expecting more rain in NWFP

A girls school and several bridges in the mountainous Swat district had been washed away, correspondents said.

NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the BBC the floods in Peshawar area were ebbing away.

But weather experts have forecast more rain in the region over the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile at least six people were reported killed in the flood planes of the Indus river in Punjab province on Monday.

Officials said the flood was caused by heavy rains in the northern mountain region.

They said more than 110 villages along the river in southern parts of the province were still underwater.