A van fell into a water-filled ditch in Pakistan's flood-hit south, killing 20 passengers — mostly women and children — and injuring 13 others overnight, police said Friday.

The incident on a flood-weakened highway took place in Sindh province on Indus Highway. The road had been dredged in several places to drain out floodwater, but has not been repaired months later. Impoverished Pakistan is struggling to recover from record-breaking flooding, which killed more than 1,700 people and damaged roads and bridges.

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Police officer Imran Qureshi said the van was bringing passengers from Khairpur district to a famous Sufi shrine in Sehwan. He said 13 of the passengers were rescued and moved to a nearby hospital. Hospital officials said eight women and 10 children, ages 10 to 15, were among the dead. Two of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

Southern Sindh province was the worst-hit by flooding triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains and made worse by climate change. The disaster affected 33 million people since mid-June and damaged or washed away 2 million homes.

The catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, largely in Sindh, also washed away road links.

A fire set off by stored gasoline in a residential building killed 21 people Thursday evening in a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas rulers said, in one of the deadliest incidents in recent years outside the violence stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The blaze erupted on the third floor of a three-story building in the crowded Jabaliya camp, according to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. No one inside the house survived.

The Civil Defense in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, attributed the cause of the fire to gasoline that was being stored in the building. It was not immediately clear how the gasoline ignited. Officials said an investigation was underway.

Flames were seen spewing out of the windows of the burning floor as hundreds of people gathered outside on the street, waiting for fire trucks and ambulances.

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Gaza, ruled by Hamas and under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade, faces a severe energy crisis. People often store cooking gas, diesel and gasoline in homes in preparation for winter. House fires have previously been caused by candles and gas leaks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered condolences to the families of the dead and declared Friday a day of mourning.

Tor Wennesland, the United Nations’ Middle East peace envoy, expressed "heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, relatives and friends of those who died in the accident; the Government, and the Palestinian people."

Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian Authority official, called on Israel to open its border crossing with Gaza to allow for the evacuation of those injured who need advanced medical care to Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank and Jerusalem. It was later confirmed that all in the house had died.

COGAT, the Israeli body controlling the Erez Crossing with the Gaza Strip, did not comment.

But Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz sent his condolences to the Palestinians, writing on Twitter that "we have offered our assistance in evacuating injured civilians to hospitals via COGAT. The State of Israel is prepared to provide life-saving, medical aid to Gaza residents."