ISLAMABAD — As millions of Pakistanis ravaged by extreme rain-induced flooding awaited relief on Friday, Quetta and Swat came under the spotlight for the sheer scale of devastation witnessed there in a single day, media reports said.
Balochistan province lost communication with the rest of the country after overnight rains, Geo News reported.
The destruction of infrastructure and breakdown in communication links added to the difficulties faced by the authorities in rescue and relief efforts in the region.
The air, road and rail networks in Balochistan were already suspended, cutting it off from rest of the country, Geo News reported.
“Due to torrential rains and flash floods in Balochistan optical fiber cable, voice and data services have been impacted in Quetta and rest of the main cities of the province,” Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) said on Twitter.
Efforts are being made to resolve this unprecedented situation, it added.
Voice and data services were restored later in the afternoon, as announced by the PTA.
A major railway bridge washed away between Kolpur and Mach in Bolan Pass, cutting off Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, from the rest of country for indefinite period, officials said, Geo News reported.
All four highways linking Balochistan with other provinces were blocked because of damaged bridges and landslides.
So far, more than 235 people were killed in province and hundreds of thousands lost their homes, the authorities said. — IANS
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Photo: A man help a group of children cross to safety on a makeshift bridge amid floods caused by heavy downpours in Sukkur, Pakistan.
