ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of rain-related accidents rose to 18 as heavy downpour continued lashing cities in Pakistan's east Punjab province on Wednesday, local media and officials said.
Provincial capital of Lahore was the worst hit by the current spell of monsoon rains where 15 people were killed in separate incidents of roof collapse and electrocution.
In the province's industrial city of Faisalabad, three people were killed in separate rain-related accidents, Urdu TV channel Samaa said.
The rainwater inundated low-lying areas and two sinkholes including a 20-feel-deep and 200-feet-wide appeared in downtown Lahore when over 280 mm rain lashed the city for more than 10 hours on Tuesday.
Road traffic was badly affected as many roads were drowned in the rainwater. Air traffic was also affected by the thundershower and many flights were postponed.
Officials from the national disaster management authority told Xinhua that low flood level was witnessed in Kabul river of the country, while other major rivers are flowing at normal level, adding that low to medium flooding is expected in water drainages in Lahore, Faisalabad and other districts of Punjab including Rawalpindi, the sister city of the country's capital Islamabad on July 4-6.
The meteorological department predicted more rains in the province during the next 24 hours.
Monsoon rains hit Pakistan every year in June-July and the season normally ends in the first week of September. During this period, the country receives heavy rains, which cause flooding in various areas.
The most destructive flood hit the country in 2010, sweeping away 20 percent of the land, killing 1,540 people and injuring 2,088 others. According to a UN report, 557,226 houses were destroyed, and over 6 million people were displaced in the flood.?
