QILA ABDULLAH/QUETTA/ISLAMABAD    -    At least six more people died and a number of villages inundated in flash floods caused by intense rainy spell in Qila Abdullah and several other areas of Balochistan.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, the number of rain-related deaths reached 188 in the province and several villages have submerged in flood water. Three dams have been washed away and many link roads destroyed in Qila Abdullah.

The train service between Chaman and Quetta was also affected due to flood water in the area. Scores of cattles have perished and crops and orchards ruined. The traffic between Quetta and Karachi was also suspended as the linking highway was damaged in different areas of Lasbela district.  Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed his deep grief and sorrow over human and financial losses caused by recent flash floods in Qila Abdullah after another heavy monsoon rains spell lashed Balochistan province. Deputy Commissioner Qilla Abdullah said the rescue workers and residents of the area rescued five people and recovered two bodies after a tractor trolley was swept away by floods in the Killi Paizai Syedan area on late Friday. The ill-fated tractor was carrying a total of 12 people, and “search operation is underway for the recovery of five missing people”, said the DC. He further said that most parts of Machka, Pir Alizai, Masaizai, Paizai Syedan and other areas of Killa Abdullah district were flooded after the Machka dam broke out.

Rain-wind and thundershower is expected in most parts of Sindh, Balochistan, while at isolated places in south Punjab, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan during the next twelve hours. Isolated heavy falls are also likely in Sindh and Balochistan during the period.