Twenty dead in a road accident in Pakistan

Crash

A van plunged into a water-filled canal in southern Pakistan, killing 20 passengers, mostly women and children, and injuring 13 others.

The incident on a flood-weakened highway occurred in Sindh province on the Indus Highway. The road was damaged in several places to drain the flood waters, but has not been repaired. Impoverished Pakistan is struggling to recover from record floods, which killed more than 1,700 people and damaged roads and bridges.

Police officer Imran Qureshi said the van was bringing passengers from Khairpur district to a famous Sufi shrine in Sehwan.

He said 13 of the passengers were rescued and transferred to a nearby hospital. Hospital officials said eight women and 10 children, aged 10 to 15, were among the dead. Two of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

The southern province of Sindh was worst hit by floods caused by unprecedented monsoon rains and worsened by climate change. The disaster affected 33 million people as of mid-June and damaged two million homes.

Catastrophic floods in Pakistan, mainly in Sindh, also washed away road links.