Bahawalnagar:
At least nine people died when a rescue boat overturned during the spinning efforts of floods in southern Punjab, authorities said on Friday, since the worst flood of the Sutlej River in 40 years continued to devastate vast areas, immersing hundreds of villages and displacing more than 150,000 people.
According to the Punjab (PDMA) Disaster Management Authority, the accident occurred on Thursday in a village near fine. The statement said the boat had rescued 24 people from the flooded villages when it overturned, with 15 survivors later taken out of the water.
Local authorities in Minchinabad Tehsil said a 1122 rescue ship, which transported 22 people, including staff, overturned near Mamoonka Basti. They said that the dead included two young people, Adnan and Khizar, who were swept by powerful currents; Their bodies were recovered a day later.
The authorities confirmed that the boat, with a maximum capacity of 15, was overloaded after the passengers made their way on board despite the repeated warnings, transporting plastic containers full of 400 liters of milk. He capized only 15-20 meters from the coast.
Additional tragedies in Chishtian were reported, where Muhammad Hussain, 38, and Muhammad Asad, 12, drowned in separate incidents. Both bodies were later recovered by rescue teams 1122.
Rescue officials said that evacuations are still difficult, since many villagers refuse to leave their cattle (cows, goats and other central animals for their livelihood, often forcing the authorities to carry out reluctant removals.
“The rescue work in the region is difficult because people do not cooperate,” said the PDMA. The flood scale has been catastrophic, triggered by intense monsoon rains and swollen rivers, the officials added.
The flood has flooded a stretch of 154 kilometers of the Sutlej only in Bahawalnagar, immersing almost 400 settlements. District authorities estimate that around 150,000 people have been homeless in the area.
In all Punjab, the authorities said that more than 4,500 villages have been submerged since the end of August, affecting more than 4.4 million people. At least 2.4 million have been evacuated so far. Since the end of June, floods killed 946 people throughout the country and destroyed large extensions of crops.
Local residents accused the authorities not to take preventive measures, leaving thousands exposed to disaster. The survivors remain under the open sky, waiting for urgent relief and government attention as Sutlej floods more and more the form of a humanitarian crisis.
(With contributions from Reuters)
