House collapse during monsoon kills 11 in Pakistan’s Lahore

LAHORE – A house in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore collapsed during heavy monsoon rains, killing 11 people, an official said on July 30.“All of the victims belong to the same family,” says Amir Butt, the assistant commissioner in the area.He said six people had also been injured.Rescue services in the tightly packed neighbourhood sifted through the damaged site and retrieved bodies while residents comforted each other nearby, AFP journalists saw on July 30.Ali Ahmed, 37, who lived near the collapsed home, said his family had been jolted by a loud bang “like an explosion” the previous evening.“We then saw one section of the building collapsed on one side, while the two sections on the other side also came crashing down onto the ground floor,” he told AFP.“Moments later, people began screaming and shouting.”Flood-related incidents, including by drowning and from house collapses, have killed 121 people in Pakistan since June 26, according to official disaster agency figures.While South Asia’s seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.The flooding from heavy monsoon rains also inundated around a dozen villages near Lahore this week, pushing residents to flee their homes by boat over fields turned into vast swathes of water. AFP