Deadly floods

In Pakistan, at least 40 people died as heavy flash flooding inundated villages, also triggering roof collapses in the eastern city of Lahore and landslides in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

A spokeman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Agency, Ahmad Kamal, said authorities were expecting exceptionally high floods over the weekend.

Heavy rains have also lashed the capital, Islamabad, where thousands of anti-government protesters have camped outside the parliament, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, at least 28 people died in the torrential weather. Separately, a bus carrying more than 50 members of a wedding party were swept away into a stream on Thursday. Four passengers managed to swim to safety, while rescue teams are searching for the others.

The region has been hit by its worst monsoon flooding in more than two decades, affecting power and telephone lines, and clean drinking water supplies. Soldiers and rescue workers have moved thousands of people to higher ground using boats, while public address systems in mosques alerted those in badly-hit areas to move to safety.

Landslides and floods are common in India during the monsoon season, which runs from June until September. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since independence from Britain in 1947.

jr/hc (AP, AFP)