The deluge has swollen rivers and damaged highways and bridges.(AP: Fareed Khan
© Fareed KhanThe deluge has swollen rivers and damaged highways and bridges.
The death toll from more than five weeks of monsoon rains and flash flooding across Pakistan has reached 312, with those killed including 114 children, according to authorities.

Since mid-June, the deluge has swollen rivers and damaged highways and 44 bridges, disrupting traffic.

The National Disaster Management Authority reported that almost 6,500 homes had been fully destroyed or partially damaged.

In some cities, residents have abandoned their cars on submerged roads to walk through waist-high water, while others have arranged for boats to move them to safer places.



Particularly hard hit has been the volatile, impoverished south-western Baluchistan province, where 99 people have died in rain-related incidents and subsequent flooding, followed by 70 dead in southern Sindh province.

There have also been 61 fatalities in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, and 60 in eastern Punjab province.

The dead include women and children, and at least 284 people have been injured.

The rains are said to be almost twice as heavy as the average downpour at this time of the year, with experts blaming climate change for the dramatic increase.

Every year, much of Pakistan struggles with the annual monsoons, drawing criticism about poor government planning.

The season runs from July through September.

Rains are essential for irrigating crops and replenishing dams and other water reservoirs in Pakistan.