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ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center on Monday dispatched a third convoy of essential food items to 17 flood-hit areas across Pakistan, the Saudi envoy to the country said.
At least 777 people have lost their lives in Pakistan since the beginning of the monsoon season in mid-June, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. The impoverished Balochistan province has been the worst hit with 255 dead, with the provincial government announcing on Sunday that all schools would remain closed for five days after nine more people were killed by heavy rains in different districts.
A joint survey by the provincial administration and UNICEF last week showed that 574 government schools, in which 79,000 children are enrolled, had been damaged due to ongoing rains and floods in 32 districts.
“The provincial health department has imposed a health emergency in Balochistan since there is imminent threat of diarrhea, cholera and malaria outbreaks in flood-hit districts,” Saleh Muhammad Nasir, the secretary health in the province, told Arab News.
“We have established a control room in the director general’s office to provide timely health facilities to the residents of flood-affected areas,” he added.
Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, was also lashed by heavy rain on Sunday, causing major damage to various neighborhoods and causing prolonged power outages.
“Several houses in Quetta were partially damaged on Sunday, but the entire administration was on the ground to deal with the situation and prevent untoward incidents,” the city’s commissioner, Sohail-ur-Rehman Baloch, told Arab News.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, canceled his tour of four European countries in view of the floods, his office said on Sunday.
KSrelief sent 100 emergency relief trucks carrying 10,000 food packages weighing 950 tons in total to 17 flood-ravaged districts in Pakistan.
“More than 70,000 people would benefit from this emergency relief,” Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki told Arab News at a ceremony in Islamabad before the goods were dispatched.
Dr. Khalid Al-Othmani, director of KSrelief Pakistan, said this was the third — and the largest —consignment by the aid agency for the country’s flood victims.
“Each 95 kg food package consisted of all necessary essential food items, including 80 kg of flour, 5 liters of cooking oil, 5 kg of sugar, and 5 kg of daal chana (lentils), which is sufficient for a family for the whole month,” he told Arab News.
The Saudi international aid agency has implemented 2,069 projects globally worth almost $6 billion in 86 countries. Pakistan is one of the top five beneficiaries of the organization, with 149 projects worth $146.9 million executed since 2005.