Death toll in catastrophic Pakistan flooding reaches 1,559
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Sep, 2022 01:39 PM
Islamabad, Sep 20 (IANS) The overall death toll in Pakistan from the devastating floods has increased to 1,559, with 12,850 others injured, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
In the last 24 hours, 15 new fatalities were reported, all in the worst-hit Sindh province, reports Xinhua news agency citing the NDMA as saying.
The victims included a child and three women.
The heavy monsoon rain-triggered flash floods since mid-June have also destroyed a total of 1,979,485 houses, while an estimated 973,632 livestock has perished in the rains across the country, according to the latest NDMA figures.
It further added that 12,716 km of roads and 374 bridges were damaged.
Rescue and relief operations by the NDMA, other government organisations, volunteers and NGOs were underway in the affected areas.
The Madhya Pradesh government said on Friday that 46 students from the state who registered with the Chief Minister's helpline are safe in Ukraine. However, it is not known exactly how many students from the state are stranded in the war-hit country.
The announcement came shortly after President Vladimir Putin authorised a "special military operation" in the conflict-hit Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Flights to Kiev, Dnepr, Lvov and Odessa airports "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation
The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday that the situation was quickly deteriorating after Russia's invasion. It appealed to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to people seeking a safe haven.
There are an estimated 25,000 Indian students in Ukraine alone who are pursuing medicine, engineering, and science courses. More than 2,500 students from Tamil Nadu are estimated to be studying in Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary stated that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken to his Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Slovakian counterparts for setting up a camp at border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals. He also stated that flight options are available through Dubai and Istanbul and that the Indian Embassy continues to be operational in Ukraine.
The Ministry of External Affairs in touch with all the neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine to even evacuate Indian citizens. Many citizens who were to fly back to India were left at the airport after closure of Ukrainian airspace following Russia's Vladimir Putin announcement of a military operation in Ukraine.
