Flash flood kills 41 pilgrims in Pakistan

At least 41 people were killed when a flash flood washed a tractor-trailer carrying pilgrims into a fast-flowing river in Pakistan, police said today.

The Muslim pilgrims were on their way back from a shrine when the vehicle was hit by a torrent of water late on Friday.

It was crossing a riverbed near a dirt road in Dera Ghazi Khan, 125 miles northwest of Multan in Punjab province, said a military police spokesman.

He said rescuers recovered 41 bodies, while 28 other passengers survived by swimming ashore.

Another military police official and state Pakistan Television reported that 50 people had died. The reason for the discrepancy wasn’t clear.

Many regions of Pakistan have been hit by heavy rains and snow in recent months in what has been the country’s bitterest winter in years.

Authorities fear more flooding as spring comes and snow melts in the high mountains.