Flash floods in Pakistan kill over 320 as monsoon rains devastate north

Flash floods caused by intense monsoon rains in northern Pakistan killed at least 321 people in the last 48 hours, according to authorities on Saturday, and rescuers were having difficulty recovering remains from debris.

According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, the majority of the deaths—307—were recorded in the hilly region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Most of the victims were killed by flash floods and collapsed buildings, including 15 women and 13 children. There were at least 23 additional injuries.

About 2,000 rescue personnel were working to remove remains from the rubble and conduct relief operations in nine affected regions, where rain was still impeding efforts, the provincial rescue agency told AFP.

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“Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,” Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rescue agency, told AFP.

“Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions,” he added.

“They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.”

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The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.

The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan’s northwest for the next few hours, urging people to take “precautionary measures”.

Nine more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the national disaster authority said.

Another five people, including two pilots, were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.

‘Doomsday’ monsoon

The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but it also brings destruction.

Landslides and flash floods are common during the season, which usually begins in June and eases by the end of September.

Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, a representative of the national disaster agency, told AFP that this year’s monsoon season began earlier than usual and was expected to end later.

“The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,” he said.

One resident likened the disaster to “doomsday”.

“I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world,” Azizullah, a resident of Buner district, where there have been dozens of deaths and injuries, told AFP.

“I thought it was doomsday,” he said.

“The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.”

In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd gathered around an excavator digging through a mud-soaked hill.

On Friday, funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets.

The torrential rains that have pounded Pakistan since the start of the summer monsoon, described as “unusual” by authorities, have killed more than 600 people.

In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.

Pakistan is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, and its population is contending with extreme weather events with increasing frequency.

Monsoon floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people.

Another villager in Buner told AFP locals kept on searching through the rubble throughout the night.

“The entire area is reeling from profound trauma,” 32-year-old local schoolteacher Saifullah Khan told AFP.

“We still have no clear idea who in this small village is alive and who is dead,” he added.

“I help retrieve the bodies of the children I taught, I keep wondering what kind of trial nature has imposed on these kids.”