Flood kills 15 people in Pakistan's northwest

Islamabad, June 17: A flash flood triggered by torrential rain killed 15 people, including a dozen children, and injured more than 60 in a mountainous village in northwestern Pakistan, a government official said today.

The flood swept away 32 houses in Baidra village, nearly 200 km northwest of Islamabad, yesterday, leaving at least 500 people homeless, a senior local government official, Syed Mohammad Javed, told sources.

''Fifteen villagers are confirmed dead and a large number of the population has been affected,'' he said, adding that a relief operation had been launched in the area and affected people were being shifted to safer places.

After a spell of sweltering heat that killed more than 50 people in the last two weeks, some parts of Pakistan, especially those in the east and north, are experiencing pre-monsoon rains.

Pakistan's chief meteorologist Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry said more rains and thunderstorm were expected in the country in the next 36 hours.

The monsoon starts from the end of June and lasts until early September in Pakistan.

Chaudhry predicts a normal monsoon this year in most parts of Pakistan.

REUTERS>