35 people, including children, died due to sudden snowfall and rain in two provinces of Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Dozens of people were injured at the same time. 22 of the dead were children.
Most of the victims died due to landslides caused by rain. At least 150 houses have been completely destroyed and 500 partially damaged in the two provinces due to heavy rains, the local administration said.
The winter in Pakistan usually lasts until mid-February. Since then, the temperature has increased. The arrival of summer can be felt from the beginning of March. The country’s meteorologists were also surprised by the snowfall and rain that started there on March 3.
Senior climatologist and former director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, Mushtaq Ali Shah, told the BBC in this regard, “Light rain is not rare in early summer, but this kind of snowfall, storm, and rain is unprecedented. We do not find any scientific explanation for this. Perhaps this happened due to global climate change.
Road and mobile communication networks have been disrupted in many remote areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan due to adverse weather conditions. Many areas have been without electricity for the past few days.
