Heavy Winter Rains in Pakistan Kill at Least 29 People, Collapse Buildings, Trigger Landslides

People collect their belongings from their house that collapsed following heavy downpour in Peshawar, Pakistan, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
People collect their belongings from their house that collapsed following heavy downpour in Peshawar, Pakistan, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
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Heavy Winter Rains in Pakistan Kill at Least 29 People, Collapse Buildings, Trigger Landslides

People collect their belongings from their house that collapsed following heavy downpour in Peshawar, Pakistan, 02 March 2024. (EPA)
People collect their belongings from their house that collapsed following heavy downpour in Peshawar, Pakistan, 02 March 2024. (EPA)

Heavy rains that swept across Pakistan have left at least 29 people dead and 50 others injured, collapsed houses and triggered landslides that blocked roads, particularly in the northwest, authorities said Sunday.

About 23 rain-related deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan since Thursday night, the provincial disaster management authority said.

Five people died in southwestern Baluchistan province after floods swamped the coastal town of Gwadar, forcing authorities to use boats to evacuate people.

Casualties and damage were also reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the National Disaster Management Authority said.

Authorities were sending emergency relief and heavy machinery to remove debris blocking highways, the agency added.

The country's Karakoram Highway, which links Pakistan with China, was still blocked in some places due to landslides triggered by rain and snow, according to the spokesman for the northern Gilgit Baltistan region, Faizullah Faraq. He said the snowfall was unusually heavy for this time of year.

Authorities advised tourists against traveling to the scenic north due to weather conditions. Last week, several visitors were stranded there because of heavy rains.

Pakistan this year has witnessed a delay in winter rains, which started in February instead of November. Monsoon and winter rains cause damage in Pakistan every year.

In 2022, unprecedented rainfall and flooding devastated many parts of Pakistan, killing more than 1,739 people, affecting around 33 million and displacing nearly 8 million people. The disaster also caused billions of dollars in damage.

In neighboring Afghanistan, authorities said Sunday that harsh winter weather had killed more than 5,000 livestock and destroyed 403 homes in different parts of the country in the past three days. The Taliban-run administration said it allocated 50 million afghanis ($681,000) in assistance.

Mohammad Naseem Moradi, head of the national meteorological department, said similar weather conditions were last observed in 2015.



Trump Calls China’s Xi Tough, ‘Hard to Make a Deal with’ 

US President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (Reuters)
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Trump Calls China’s Xi Tough, ‘Hard to Make a Deal with’ 

US President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. (Reuters)

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping is tough and "extremely hard to make a deal with," days after the US President accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions.

"I like President Xi of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said on Monday that Trump would speak with Xi this week as the two leaders seek to iron out differences on last month's tariff agreement in Geneva, among larger trade issues.

A US trade court last week ruled that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing the bulk of his tariffs on imports from China and other countries under an emergency powers act.

Less than 24 hours later, a federal appeals court reinstated the tariffs, saying it was pausing the trade court ruling to consider the government's appeal.