More than 250,000 affected by Pakistan floods

Heading for higher ground: Pakistani villagers wading in chest-high floodwater in Layyah district, Punjab province. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Torrential rains and floods in Pakistan have left 36 dead and affected more than 250,000 people, disaster management officials said, with swollen rivers and water channels damaging hundreds of villages.

Severe weather has caused havoc in the north and south of the country, sweeping away dozens of roads and bridges in Chitral district in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province while floods have inundated villages in south Punjab, ac­­cording to government authorities.