(Peshawar) Heavy rains swept through northwest Pakistan on Saturday, causing several houses to collapse and leaving at least 20 people dead and 80 injured, authorities said.
Rains and hailstorms hit Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, relief officer Khateer Ahmed said, uprooting trees and bringing down power transmission pylons.
Authorities are working to provide emergency aid to the injured, Ahmed said.
Last year, monsoon rains and floods devastated Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people and affecting around 33 million people, displacing almost 8 million people.
In order to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, the government has allocated 1.3 billion for climate resilience in its draft national budget presented on Friday.
On Saturday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sadness over the loss of life caused by the storm and called on authorities to step up the pace of relief operations.