Over 200 die in Pakistan after flash floods sweep away homes, villages

Over 200 people have died in Pakistan after flash floods ravaged the country, triggered by cloudbursts. The worst-hit district of Buner in the northwest saw the largest number of deaths at 157, with dozens still missing as homes and villages were swept away by floods on Friday.

A state of emergency has been declared in Buner owing to the high casualty numbers, while rescuers tried to reach stranded families using boats and helicopters. Multiple reports say that ambulances have carried at least 100 dead bodies in the district so far.

In the neighbouring Mansehra district, emergency crews worked through Thursday night to rescue approximately 2,000 tourists stranded by flash floods and landslides in the Siran Valley.

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Aid chopper crashes

Meanwhile, a helicopter carrying aid supplies crashed in the district of Bajaur owing to bad weather, killing all people on board, including two pilots.

The helicopter was part of broader relief efforts launched in response to torrential rain, cloudbursts, and flash floods that have ravaged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram, Bajaur, and Mansehra districts alone, the disasters have claimed at least 146 lives, injured over 123 people, and left many others missing.

PM swings into action

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the disaster management authority to evacuate affected families and stranded tourists. The country’s disaster agency has also issued new warnings about glacial lake outburst floods in the north and urged travellers to avoid high-risk areas.

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Last month, the government said that almost half of the 266 deaths linked to Pakistan’s heavier-than-normal monsoon rains were children on their national school holidays.

“Children are very vulnerable to this situation. They are playing in the water, bathing, and electricity shocks can happen,” he told AFP.

“That’s why their ratio is higher than any other, especially because it’s a holiday in Punjab so schools and colleges are closed.”

With inputs from agencies