Monsoon downpours kill dozens in northern Pakistan

Rivers burst their banks during monsoon rains in Pakistan, washing away streets, battering a dam and killing at least 28 people in the north west, officials said.

By The Newsroom

Published 29th Jul 2010, 23:27 BST

Updated 29th Jul 2010, 23:27 BST

At least 10 people died near Peshawar when their homes collapsed, said Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the regional Disaster Management Authority.

He said dozens of people werebelieved missing, so the overall death toll could rise.

In the Peshawar area, two elderly men clung to a fence post and each other as a raging torrent swept over their heads, footage on Pakistan TV showed. Two oxen were swept away in the same deluge.

People were forced to trudge through knee-deep water in some streets in the Swat Valley, a newly constructed part of a dam in the Charsadda district collapsed, while crops were soaked in many areas.

The rain is a suspected factor in a plane crash near the capital

Islamabad, which killed all 152 passengers on board.

Continued rains were yesterday hampering the salvage effort.

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