Monsoon floods in Pakistan, 50 dead in India

At least fifty-four people were confirmed dead in India and Pakistan Thursday after monsoon rains caused flooding and house collapses, officials in the two countries said. At least 34 people had been killed in north-western Pakistan since heavy rains started Wednesday, the National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Ahmed Kamal said. "So far, 11 people have been killed each in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir and 12 in Punjab due to floods and rains," he said. In India, at least 20 people were killed in the usually arid northern state of Rajasthan, a state disaster management official said. "Ten people were killed in Jaipur, and we are getting information that 10 more died in other districts," the official in the agency's control room said by phone from Jaipur, the state capital. "Most of the deaths were from house collapses and flooding on Wednesday." Many places in the state capital Jaipur, a popular tourist destination, were inundated by the rains, which started on Tuesday. More than 200 houses collapsed while 2000 people were evacuated from the city's low-lying neighbourhoods and slums of Jaipur, said the official. The rains were the heaviest to hit the city, a popular tourist destination, since 1981, local media reported. Rail and road transport was disrupted, and schools were closed. Weather reports predicted more rain in the affected Indian areas until Saturday. Across the border in Pakistan, the Meteorological Department said Thursday the downpour would continue for at least 24 hours. In Pakistan in July 2010, heavy monsoon rains caused the worst flooding in the country's history, affecting about 20 million people and killing close to 2,000.