Islamabad/Peshawar, July 30, 2010: In Pakistan, over 100 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless by flash flood triggered by torrential rain across the country even as authorities declared an emergency in the country’s northwest, where a majority of the deaths occurred.

Bashir Bilour, Senior Minister of the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, confirmed over 90 deaths in rain-related incidents in the region. Officials were quoted by TV news channels as saying that the death toll in the province was over 100. Scores of houses collapsed due to the rain, which also damaged crops and washed away animals.

Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters in Peshawar that over four lakh people have been affected by the rain and flood in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone. He said, the provincial government has declared an emergency and sought aid from the federal authorities and international bodies.

Swat was cut off from the rest of the province as rains swept away several bridges and disrupted communications.The rains also hampered helicopter flights for relief operations, officials said.Authorities banned swimming in streams and rivers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

People living in low-lying areas around the two cities were evacuated to higher ground.The most severe floods in Pakistan in decades came as the country mourned the death of 152 people in a plane crash near Islamabad yesterday. The airliner hit hills overlooking the capital in bad weather.