Pakistan monsoon flooding death toll rises to 1,061

The death toll from monsoon flooding in Pakistan since June has reached 1,061, according to figures released Monday by the country‍‍`s National Disaster Management Authority.

It said 28 people had died in the previous 24 hours, but authorities were still trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of destruction.

Officials say this year‍‍`s monsoon flooding has affected more than 33 million people -- one in seven Pakistanis -- destroying or badly damaging nearly a million homes.

The NDMA said more than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out, 3,457 kilometres (about 2,200 miles) of roads destroyed, and 157 bridges washed away.