An estimated 16 million children have been impacted by “super floods” in Pakistan with at least 3.4 million of them needing immediate lifesaving support, the UN has said.

The situation is extremely grim in flood-hit areas with malnourished children battling diarrhoea, dengue fever and several painful skin diseases, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) representative Abdullah Fadil said in a statement on Friday.

Fadil, who recently concluded a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas of Sindh, said floods had now claimed the lives of at least 528 children.

“Each and every one of these deaths is a tragedy that could have been averted,” he said.

“An estimated 16 million children have been impacted by these ‘super floods’ and at least 3.4 million girls and boys remain in need of immediate, lifesaving support.

“Young children are living out in the open with their families, with no drinking water, no food and no livelihood, exposed to a wide range of new flood-related risks and hazards — from damaged buildings, drowning in flood waters and snakes. The vital infrastructure that children so rely on has been destroyed and damaged, including thousands of schools, water systems and health facilities,” he said.

As the magnitude of the flood disaster continues to unfold, international aid continues to trickle in.

“The sad reality is that without a massive increase in support and aid, many more children will lose their lives,” the Unicef representative said.

A lot of the mothers are anaemic and malnourished themselves and have very low-weight babies. Mothers are exhausted or ill and they are unable to breastfeed, he said.

Millions of families have been forced from their homes, now living with little more than rags to protect themselves from the scorching sun as temperatures in some areas pass 40°C, he added.

“Many families have been forced to seek shelter on slivers of higher ground, often alongside roads putting children at risk, as lower land is covered by huge expanses of stagnant water, extending as far as the eye can see. The additional threats of snakes, scorpions and mosquitoes are ever-present in the area,” Fadil said.

“Whilst the number of children lost in these floods continues to grow, Unicef is doing everything it can to support children and families affected and protect them from the ongoing dangers of water-borne diseases, malnutrition and other risks,” he added.