ISLAMABAD, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and 13 others injured in different rain-related incidents in the country during the past 24 hours, while the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) also issued a river and urban flood warning on Thursday.
A statement from the department said widespread rains and wind-thunderstorm are expected in different parts of the country, especially in Islamabad and different districts in eastern Punjab, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwest Balochistan provinces and in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir during the next 12 hours.
"Strong monsoon currents from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal entered into upper parts of the country on Wednesday and likely to spread to central and southern parts from Thursday to Saturday," said the PMD.
Persistent torrential monsoon rains have badly disrupted life across several cities of Pakistan during the past 24 hours, turning streets into streams, causing traffic jams and upsetting power supply due to unusual weather developments on the east and west of the country.
According to local media reports, a woman and her one-year-old child drowned when rainwater gushed into the basement of their house in Islamabad. While a lawyer lost his life after he was swept away by the strong water currents in Lai Nullah stream in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to Islamabad.
In another incident, the roof of a house collapsed after the heavy rain in eastern Lahore city, leaving two of the same family killed and three others wounded.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, rescue teams are working in the affected areas, while rescue squads of Pakistan army have also been asked to stand alert to deal with an emergency situation.
The authorities have also issued a warning of high to very high floods in upstream of River Chenab and in River Indus along with their tributaries, adding that heavy rain may generate flash flooding in local riverine.
Last week, at least 14 people were reportedly killed and over 50 others wounded in rain-related incidents across KP province.
