ISLAMABAD, April 4 (UPI) -- At least 53 people are dead after flash floods struck northwestern Pakistan and the disputed Kashmir province, officials said Monday.
Rain beginning Saturday night brought flooding to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces. The floods injured at least 60 people and washed away crops across the mostly rural region, and caused landslides, destroying homes.
The rain is regarded as pre-monsoon rain, a common occurrence in Pakistan prior to the monsoon season, which begins in mid-July.
Shangla and Kohistan districts, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were the hardest-hit areas.
Since March 9, heavy rains in Pakistan have killed 121 people, injured 174 and damaged 852 houses, largely because of landslides and collapsed roofs.
Peshawar Bara River (Flood after Heavy Rainfall on April 3, 2016), PDMA pic.twitter.com/11fz4Hpybx
— PDMA (@PDMAKP) April 4, 2016
