Children among 20 die as van falls into floodwaters in Sindh
A van fell into a water-filled ditch in Pakistan’s flood-hit south, killing 20 passengers — mostly women and children — and injuring 13 others overnight, police said on Friday.
The incident on a flood-weakened highway took place in Sindh province on Indus Highway. The road had been dredged in several places to drain out floodwater, but has not been repaired months later. Impoverished Pakistan is struggling to recover from record-breaking flooding, which killed more than 1,700 people and damaged roads and bridges.
“The driver could not see the diversion sign on the road and so the van plunged into a 25foot (eight-metre) deep ditch” near the town of Sehwan Sharif, local police official Khadim Hussain told AFP.
Police officer Imran Qureshi said the van was bringing passengers from Khairpur district to a famous Sufi shrine in Sehwan. He said 13 of the passengers were rescued and moved to a nearby hospital. Hospital officials said eight women and 10 children, ages 10 to 15, were among the dead.
The ill-fated mini bus was bringing passengers from Khairpur district to a famous Sufi shrine in Sehwan; 8 women and 10 children were among the dead; roadside blast kills 6 in S.waziristan
A further 13 people were injured in the accident. Two of the injured were said to be in critical condition. Hussain said the children killed were between two and eight years old, likely siting on their parents’ laps when they were fatally injured. “They all belong to the same family and they were coming to Sehwan to pay respect to Qalandar Lal Shahaz,” he said.
The highway remained closed during peak flood times and recently opened to the traffic ater the flood water started receding from the area.
However, the police said the part of the highway where the accident happened was restricted and there was a diversion at the road, but the driver failed to notice the barricades due to overspeeding.
Southern Sindh province was the worst-hit by flooding triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains and made worse by climate change. The disaster affected 33 million people since midjune and damaged or washed away 2 million homes. The catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, largely in Sindh, also washed away road links.
According to a media report, the government has distributed $316 million under the Benazir Income Support Programme among the 2.8 million flood affected families across the country.
This was stated by Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri while briefing the Executive Board of World Food Programme in Italy, about the recent floods in Pakistan and their atermath.
She said Pakistan faces the challenge of food insecurity by 2030 as more than 33 million people have been affected by floods in 82 districts of the country.
She said that Pakistan is facing a major challenge to meet the food security and nutrition targets of Sustainable Development Goal 2 by 2030. She informed the participants that Government of Pakistan estimated more than 33 million people across the country affected by recent floods in 82 districts across Pakistan. Around 650,000 pregnant women, in flood affected areas of Pakistan, are facing challenges in geting access to maternal services. Nearly 4 million children lack access to health services, she added.
While appreciating the role of World Food Programme, Federal Minister said that WFP and BISP has designed and initiated a pilot in 15 districts “Conditional Cash Transfer Programme “Nashnonuma” on improving the Health and Nutrition situation in Pakistan.”
In an unrelated development, a roadside bombing near a public market killed six people in Pakistan’s restive northwestern province, police said on Friday. The blast struck in South Waziristan’s Chakmali area and appeared to target five former militants who had turned themselves over to government forces recently, senior officer Salim Marwat said, adding that a soldier who was on leave was also killed.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the militant group to which the victims formerly belonged has staged bombings before.
South Waziristan and the long and mountainous border with Afghanistan serve as a safe haven for militants, largely known as the Pakistani Taliban.