The death toll from a tropical cyclone that displaced more than 15,000 people in Pakistan’s southern coastal belt has climbed to 62.
Floods strand thousands as people take refuge on rooftops and trees
ISLAMABAD: The death toll from a tropical cyclone that displaced more than 15,000 people in Pakistan’s southern coastal belt has climbed to 62, while 32 more were feared dead as several boats sank in the Arabian Sea, officials and media reports said on Wednesday.
Cyclone Yemyin moved in from the North Arabian Sea with winds up to 130km an hour that wrecked havoc along the coast of southern Balochistan on Tuesday. “Around 15,000 to 20,000 people are left homeless in the province as heavy floods inundated dozens of villages,” spokesman for Balochistan government Razaq Bugti said.
“Hundreds of people have taken refuge on trees and government buildings. Massive killings are feared here,” Aaj news channel reported. The channel reported five more deaths on Wednesday in Khuzdar, Gandhawa and Karkh districts, where communication links are severely disrupted.
“The cyclone has now entered Iran but some Pakistani coastal areas will continue to experience rainfall,” said Qamar-uz-Zaman, Meteorological Services director general. Relief work was underway in Pasni where hundreds of residents spent the second night in the open on nearby sandy hills. Yemyin narrowly missed Karachi and other coastal areas in Sindh province but heavy rains claimed 40 lives in the province.
In Karachi, the country’s largest city, five people were electrocuted Tuesday by falling electricity lines that had earlier been battered by rains and thunderstorms, according to official reports. Most of the 1,20,000 residents of Gwadar moved to higher ground,
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