Rain, storms in Pakistan kill 32 in a week

KARACHI: At least 32 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in Pakistan in a week of storms that followed a heatwave, with officials reporting on Friday five more deaths.

Five people including a child were killed on Thursday in different districts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during heavy rains and strong winds, the province´s disaster management authority said.

Stormy weather is expected to continue in northern and central parts of Pakistan until Saturday, according to the national meteorological office.

Heavy windstorms killed 10 people on Tuesday and 14 on Saturday in different parts of the country, one of the most vulnerable to climate change and grappling with increasingly frequent extreme weather events.

Three children were killed on Wednesday in Hyderabad in Sindh province, a senior official said.

While the majority of the deaths were caused by collapsing walls and roofs, at least two people died after being hit by solar panels dislodged by the whipping gusts.

People are killed every year in Pakistan by intense storms, which were unusually frequent this month.

Heatwaves in May followed an unusually warm April and a very dry winter.

Temperatures were up to six degrees Celsius above normal in May, peaking at above 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit).