Rains have killed 221 people in Pakistan since the end of June.

Torrential rains in an unusual monsoon season have killed 221 people in Pakistan since late June, including more than 100 children, the government said on Tuesday (22).

The monsoons, which run from June to September, are vital in South Asia because they provide between 70 and 80% of the annual rainfall, but they also often cause devastating floods.

This year, torrential rains began earlier than usual, a spokeswoman for Pakistan's Disaster Management Authority said.

“Crash casualties like these are typically seen in August, making this an unusual season,” he added.

Among the 221 people who have died since June 26 in flash floods, building collapses and other incidents, “104 were children and 40 were women,” he highlighted.

On Tuesday, authorities in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region announced the deaths of three people in a landslide on Monday on a mountain road.

Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and its 225 million inhabitants are frequently exposed to increasingly extreme weather events.

During the 2022 monsoon season, a third of the country was flooded, forcing more than 33 million people to flee their homes. Nearly 1,700 people died, and much of the year's agricultural harvest was lost.

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