Deadly monsoons in Pakistan and India

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority chief Muhammad Saeed Aleem reported 110 deaths in the eastern province of Punjab, the Pakistan-controlled Himalayan region of Kashmir and the adjoining Gilgit-Baltistan region in the north.

He added that 148 people have been injured and 650 houses completely destroyed.

Spokesman for the disaster authority, Ahmad Kamal, said, "We are dispatching tents and other relief items for those who have been affected because of rains and floods." He added that army helicopters and boats were evacuating people from affected areas.

In a statement, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the deaths and destruction caused by the rain and flooding were a great loss.

"The government will leave no stone unturned to help the people in distress," Sharif said. Besides inclement weather, Sharif is also facing anti-government protests calling for his resignation.

In India, authorities put the death toll at 86 people. This figure includes 27 people killed when a bus filled with a wedding party was washed away in a flooded stream. Four passengers managed to swim away, however about 30 others remain unaccounted for, officials said.

At least 300 federal rescue workers have joined thousands of state police and soldiers to rescue tens of thousands of people stranded by washed out bridges and roads across the region.

With more flooding and rain forecast for the coming days, authorities fear the death toll may rise.

The disputed Kashmir region has been hit by its worst monsoon flooding in more than two decades, affecting power and telephone lines and clean drinking water supplies.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since independence from Britain in 1947.

hc/se (dpa, AP)