Mounting death tolls from Asian monsoons

At least 137 people have died in the last few days from flooding caused by intense monsoon-season rains that have been lashing parts of Asia for weeks, according to government and media accounts.

Pakistan’s government reported Friday that up to a foot of rain (313 mm) in eastern parts of the country Thursday caused heavy flooding that left at least 56 people dead and 68 injured.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, 50 people died when a bus carrying a wedding party overturned in a flash flood. They were among 70 killed in Jammu and Indian-administered Kashmir as a result of flooding, Indian officials reported according to CNN sister network CNN-IBN.

In Thailand, the state-run MCOT news agency reported that authorities have urged residents along waterways in the country’s central region to move to higher ground. The government had deployed more than 600 soldiers to aid in flood prevention work, the Bangkok Post reported.

On Wednesday, China’s state-run CCTV reported 11 people had died and 39,000 had been evacuated in the southwestern city of Chongqing after heavy rains there. More than 2,200 homes collapsed in the deluge, CCTV said.

Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal were also hard-hit in August. South Korea and Japan have also seen flooding.

[CNN]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid by Grant Montgomery.