Retired colonel's body swept away in flood recovered as Pakistan monsoon toll hits 260
The incident, which occurred during a cloudburst in the upscale Defense Housing Authority (DHA), has drawn widespread public attention. The flood swept away Col. (retd) Qazi Ishaq, 65, and his 35-year-old daughter, Muneeba, as they got caught in a rain-swollen seasonal stream on Tuesday.
Video footage showing their car being carried away by the surging waters quickly went viral on social media, highlighting the vulnerability of even affluent areas to urban flooding.
'Retired Col. Qazi Ishaq's body was recovered from the bank of the Soan River, between DHA and Bahria Town,' Rawalpindi Assistant Commissioner Sadar Hakim Khan told Independent Urdu. 'However, his daughter and the vehicle are still being searched for.'
Tuesday's incident occurred after intense rainfall triggered flooding in parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
While flash floods are a recurring monsoon phenomenon in Pakistan — especially in vulnerable areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and peri-urban parts of Islamabad — fatalities in upper-income neighborhoods are rare.
Pakistan's monsoon season began in late June, with torrential rains and glacial melt causing landslides and river flooding.
The NDMA has warned of continued risk in mountainous regions, where several tourists remain stranded in parts of Gilgit-Baltistan due to blocked roads and disrupted communications.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Thursday that 'moderate monsoon activity is likely to continue,' with rainfall gradually subsiding over the next three days.
The 2025 season follows years of increasingly erratic weather patterns across Pakistan, which ranks among the world's most climate-vulnerable nations.
Three years ago, the country was battered by unprecedented monsoon rains, killing about 1,700 people and destroying farmlands and public infrastructure, with estimated damages totaling $35 billion.
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