53 people die in Pakistan floods

Some 53 people have been killed by floods caused by torrential rain in northwest Pakistan, international media report.

According to reports, the rain began on Saturday bringing flooding to parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan provinces. The Associated Press adds that the rains also saw dozens of people taken to hospital with injuries.

Pre-monsoon rains often cause damage in rural Pakistan and officials say locals had been warned to leave their villages for safer places, with hundreds already moving to safer areas and tents with relief goods already being set up throughout the region.