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Violent flooding kills 50 in Pakistan

Pakistani villagers collect their belongings after flash flooding on the outskirts of Peshawar on April 3, 2016.
(Mohammad Sajjad / Associated Press)
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Torrential rains and flash floods killed 50 people and wounded 55 others in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, according to officials.

Landslides blocked major highways and violent currents washed away roads in mountainous parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The worst hit area was the Shangla district in the Malakand division, where 19 people died and more than 30 were injured, disaster management officials said. Several houses there had collapsed.

Tents and other relief supplies were sent from the provincial capital of Peshawar to the affected regions, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority said in a statement.

Destructive flash floods are common in Pakistan during the summer monsoon season, and the rains in the months just before the season can take a heavy toll on rural villages.

"We're left on our own. Nobody from the government is coming to help us," Habib Khan, a resident of Swat Valley, told a local TV news channel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Villagers watch water rush in during a flash flood. (Mohammad Sajjad / Associated Press)
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People gather around what is left of their shops after the floods swept through on the outskirts of Peshawar. (Arshad Arbab / European Pressphoto Agency)
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People remove debris from a damaged house after heavy rains devastated the outskirts of Peshawar on April 3, 2016. (A Majeed / AFP/Getty Images)
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Flood waters rush through a market on the outskirts of Peshawar as vendors and resident scramble to save their possessions. (A Majeed / AFP/Getty Images)
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A man salvages his belongings from his flooded house on the outskirts of Peshawar. (Mohammad Sajjad / Associated Press)
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Market vendors and residents walk through the flood waters. (A Majeed / AFP/Getty Images)
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