Half of the 266 Pakistan monsoon deaths are children: PDMA
Last updated: July 25, 2025 | 20:31
Commuters wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Lahore on Thursday. AP
Almost half of the 266 deaths linked to Pakistan's heavier-than-normal monsoon rains were children on their national school holidays, officials said Friday.
Most of the deaths have occurred in Punjab, the most populous province, where monsoon rainfall has been 70 percent higher than last year, said Mazhar Hussain from the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Agency (PDMA).
"Children are very vulnerable to this situation. They are playing in the water, bathing, and electricity shocks can happen," he told AFP.
"That's why their ratio is higher than any other, especially because it's a holiday in Punjab so schools and colleges are closed."
The national disaster agency said on Friday that 266 people had been killed across Pakistan since the moon hit on June 26, with 126 of them children.
Workers clear the road along a stream at the flood-hit Kondus Valley of Ghanche district in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. AFP
Flash floods, building collapses, lightning strikes and drownings were among the causes of death. Hundreds more have been injured.
An agency spokeswoman told AFP this week that the heaviest rains usually start later in the monsoon season. "Such death tolls are usually seen in August, but this year the impact has been markedly different," she said.
Rains are expected to strengthen in August, the agency has warned.
Women wade through a flooded road caused by heavy monsoon rain in Lahore. AP
A landslide this week caused by torrential rains swept away several cars in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, a popular tourist destination marked by towering mountains, deep valleys and wide rivers.
In late June, at least 13 tourists were swept to their deaths while sheltering from flash floods on a raised river bank.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, and runs from late June until September in Pakistan.
The annual rains are vital for agriculture and food security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers, but also bring destruction.
In 2022, monsoon floods submerged a third of the country and killed 1,700 people.