At least 17 people were killed on Sunday when a boat overturned in a swollen river in eastern Pakistan, officials said, as fresh monsoon rains triggered new flood concerns.
The boat with 40 people onboard capsized on Chenab River near Multan city, rescue official Mian Akmal said.
One soldier died in a subsequent rescue operation, a military statement said.
Authorities blew up the embankment of Chenab at two places to divert raging waters from entering Muzaffargarh city in the southern part of Punjab, disaster authority spokesman Ahmed Kamal said.
Troops and rescue workers were also evacuating thousands of people from areas on the bank of rivers in southern Sindh province, provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said.
Nearly two weeks of flooding had already displaced more than two-and-a-half million people, Mr. Kamal said.
