Nearly 200 people killed in heavy rain, floods in Pakistan
Cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and building collapses amid heavy rain caused fatalities in the hills and mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, they said.
The National Disaster Management Authority, a government body, put the death toll at 194 late on Friday.
Worst hit was the Buner area, where floods and heavy rain caused 100 deaths, the provincial Chief Secretary, Shahab Ali Shah, told Reuters.
A helicopter carrying relief supplies to those hit by flooding in Bajaur, close to the Afghan border, crashed due to the bad weather, killing the five crew members.
In the district of Swat, more than 2,000 people were moved to safer ground, after rivers and streams swelled, rescue officials said.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting to review the flood situation caused by the recent rains, a statement from his office said.
Hundreds of others have been killed in recent weeks as Pakistan experienced more rain than usual during the current monsoon season, washing away roads and buildings.
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Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Pakistan floods claim over 300 lives in 48 hours as monsoon rains wreak havoc: 10 points
Sudden floods triggered by torrential rains have killed more than 300 people across Pakistan, authorities said Saturday, as entire villages in the mountainous north-west were devastated. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported at least 321 deaths in the last 48 hours, with 307 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Nine fatalities were recorded in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and five in Gilgit-Baltistan. Weeks of relentless monsoon rains, massive landslides and raging floodwaters have torn through the region since early June, sweeping away entire neighbourhoods and leaving homes in ruins. Rescue workers said more than ten villages were reduced to rubble in Buner district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Many residents remain missing as washed-out roads and landslides blocked access. More than 30 homes in the village were swept away. The district situated north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was the worst-hit, with 184 confirmed killed so far, Reuters reported. Rescue workers and local residents search for bodies of victims of Friday's flash flooding through the rubble of damaged houses at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Over 120 bodies have been recovered from this area alone so far. Just a few days ago, there was a vibrant, living community here. Now, there's nothing but heaps of large rocks and debris,' Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for Rescue 122, told CNN. In Salarzai, a subdivision of Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, one of the worst-hit areas, locals described the flooding as apocalyptic. 'When the rain intensified, it wasn't long before I felt as if an earthquake had struck — the whole ground was shaking,' said Farhad Ali, a student, CNN reported. Rescuers and local residents use heavy machinery to recover bodies during a rescue operation at the site of a massive cloudburst that led to flash flooding, in Salarzai, in Bajaur district, in northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Qyass Khan) 'In the pouring rain, my entire family ran outside, and we saw a torrent of mud and massive boulders rushing through the stream near our house. It felt like doomsday had arrived, with scenes straight out of the end of the world.' AFP reported villagers gathered for funeral prayers in a paddock, weeping over bodies covered in blankets as excavators dug through mud-soaked hills. Around 2,000 rescue workers have been deployed across nine districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, but officials say relief operations remain extremely difficult. The provincial government has designated the hardest-hit mountainous districts — Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram — as disaster zones. '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, spokesperson for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency, told AFP. Rescue workers transport the body of a victim of Friday's flash flooding after recovering it from the rubble of a damaged house at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions. 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.' Separately, five crew members died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when a helicopter crashed during relief efforts, a provincial official confirmed. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rain alert for the north-west, warning of intensified rainfall from Sunday with the risk of flash floods and urban flooding. Social media videos showed huge torrents of brown water tearing through villages. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Friday to review rescue operations after what officials described as one of the deadliest cloudbursts in recent years. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said civilian and military teams were leading rescue and relief efforts, while the prime minister had convened an emergency meeting to review the crisis. Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah told Reuters that local officials had been deployed to the worst-hit areas to oversee operations and assess damage. He said medical camps were being set up for survivors, alongside arrangements to provide food to families who had lost their homes. The monsoon season in South Asia provides three-quarters of annual rainfall, but this year's rains began earlier and are expected to last longer, said Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah of the NDMA. 'The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,' he told AFP. A boy sits in front of shops damaged by Friday's flash flooding on the outskirts of Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) The NDMA says more than 600 people have been killed this monsoon season. In Punjab province, rainfall in July was 73 per cent higher than last year, with more deaths already than the entire 2024 monsoon. Pakistan remains one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people. Pakistan's chief meteorologist Zaheer Babar said the country has witnessed a rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. He told Reuters that heavy rains in the mountains often triggered flash floods downstream, catching people in lower-lying areas off guard. A firefighting department vehicle submerged in a floodwater following flash flooding due to heavy rains in the neighbourhood of Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo) While climate change was a major driver, Babar said the impact had been worsened by homes built alongside rivers and streams, and by waterways constricted due to construction and garbage dumping, which made it harder for rainfall to disperse. Heavy rains have also battered neighbouring India and Nepal over the past week, causing deadly floods and landslides. In Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 reported missing in the pilgrimage town of Chashoti on Friday. In Nepal, 41 people lost their lives and 121 others were injured, according to the country's disaster management authority, cited by Reuters.
Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
More than 300 people dead in Pakistan after heavy rains, floods
Heavy rains caused flash floods in northwest Pakistan. Over 300 people died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Many are still missing. Homes collapsed, and villages were swept away. Rescue operations are underway. The government is providing aid. Climate change and construction near waterways worsened the impact. Extreme weather events are increasing in Pakistan. Neighbouring India and Nepal also faced heavy rains. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads More than 300 people are dead in northwest Pakistan after two days of heavy rains and flash floods, local officials said on deluge hit the remote mountainous northern part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, with cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and landslides in the deadliest downpour of this year's monsoon Saturday, 307 were confirmed dead, with more people missing, according to the Provincial Disaster Management of neighbouring India and Nepal have also been hit hard by heavy rains, flooding and other rain-related incidents over the past Bajaur district, close to the Afghan border, Saeedullah was asleep in the yard of his home on Thursday night when he was woken by loud rushed to his house where his family were sleeping to find the roof had collapsed. Helped by neighbours, he dug through the debris and found the bodies of his wife and five said he suspected the house was hit by lightning, with parts of it on fire before the rain came down. He said he buried his family on Friday, with the help of the community."There is destruction everywhere, piles of rubble," Saeedullah, 42, Faizi, a spokesperson for the country's official 1122 rescue service, said that he expected the death toll to climb as more bodies are recovered from under the debris of district, north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was the worst-hit, with 184 confirmed killed so said there was a cloud burst in Buner early on Friday creating a torrent of water that swept down to the villages below. "There was no time for anyone to react," Faizi Hussain, 62, a resident of Beshonrai village, in Buner, said that more than 60 people had lost their lives in his village and more than 20 were said he told his family to flee when he noticed water rising quickly in a stream near his house that swept towards his front of his nephews got trapped and broke his leg as the waters rose. Hussain rescued him and took him to a hospital in Buner."The floodwater washed away our house in front of our eyes," Hussain told Reuters from the hospital. "Within minutes, we were made homeless."More than 30 homes in the village were swept Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said that civilian and military teams were carrying out rescue and relief operations, while the prime minister had chaired an emergency Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said that local officials had been dispatched to the flooded areas to supervise relief operations and assess the said medical camps were being set up for the flood victims, along with arrangements to provide food for families who lost their Friday, a rescue helicopter crashed, due to bad weather, killing the five crew Babar, Pakistan's chief meteorologist, said the country has seen an increase in the frequency and destructiveness of extreme weather said heavy rainfall in the mountains meant people in lower-lying areas were not aware of the strength of the downpour until it reached them as a flash change was one factor, he said, but it was made worse by homes being built next to rivers and streams, while some waterways were constricted by construction activity and garbage dumping, making it harder for the rainfall to disperse.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
More than 300 people dead in Pakistan after heavy rains, floods
More than 300 people are dead in northwest Pakistan after two days of heavy rains and flash floods, local officials said on Saturday. The deluge hit the remote mountainous northern part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, with cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and landslides in the deadliest downpour of this year's monsoon season. By Saturday, 307 were confirmed dead, with more people missing, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Parts of neighbouring India and Nepal have also been hit hard by heavy rains, flooding and other rain-related incidents over the past week. In Bajaur district, close to the Afghan border, Saeedullah was asleep in the yard of his home on Thursday night when he was woken by loud thunder. Live Events He rushed to his house where his family were sleeping to find the roof had collapsed. Helped by neighbours, he dug through the debris and found the bodies of his wife and five children. He said he suspected the house was hit by lightning, with parts of it on fire before the rain came down. He said he buried his family on Friday, with the help of the community. "There is destruction everywhere, piles of rubble," Saeedullah, 42, said. Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the country's official 1122 rescue service, said that he expected the death toll to climb as more bodies are recovered from under the debris of homes. Buner district, north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was the worst-hit, with 184 confirmed killed so far. Faizi said there was a cloud burst in Buner early on Friday creating a torrent of water that swept down to the villages below. "There was no time for anyone to react," Faizi said. Zahid Hussain, 62, a resident of Beshonrai village, in Buner, said that more than 60 people had lost their lives in his village and more than 20 were missing. He said he told his family to flee when he noticed water rising quickly in a stream near his house that swept towards his front door. One of his nephews got trapped and broke his leg as the waters rose. Hussain rescued him and took him to a hospital in Buner. "The floodwater washed away our house in front of our eyes," Hussain told Reuters from the hospital. "Within minutes, we were made homeless." More than 30 homes in the village were swept away. Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said that civilian and military teams were carrying out rescue and relief operations, while the prime minister had chaired an emergency meeting. Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said that local officials had been dispatched to the flooded areas to supervise relief operations and assess the damage. He said medical camps were being set up for the flood victims, along with arrangements to provide food for families who lost their homes. On Friday, a rescue helicopter crashed, due to bad weather, killing the five crew members. Zaheer Babar, Pakistan's chief meteorologist, said the country has seen an increase in the frequency and destructiveness of extreme weather events. He said heavy rainfall in the mountains meant people in lower-lying areas were not aware of the strength of the downpour until it reached them as a flash flood. Climate change was one factor, he said, but it was made worse by homes being built next to rivers and streams, while some waterways were constricted by construction activity and garbage dumping, making it harder for the rainfall to disperse.
