More than 200 people killed by flash floods in India and Pakistan, with scores still missing
In Pakistan, a helicopter carrying relief supplies to the flood-hit northwestern Bajaur district crashed on Friday due to bad weather, killing all five people on board, including two pilots, a government statement said.
Sudden, intense downpours over small areas, known as cloudbursts, are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, which are prone to flash floods and landslides. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions.
Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
Dozens missing in remote Himalayan village
In India-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi on Friday after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said.
Officials halted rescue operations overnight but rescued at least 300 people Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away.
Harvinder Singh, a local resident, joined the rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped retrieve 33 bodies from under mud, he said.
At least 50 seriously injured people were treated in local hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Disaster management official Mohammed Irshad said the number of missing people could increase.
Weather officials forecast more heavy rains and floods in the area.
Chositi, in Kashmir's Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 metres.
Officials said the pilgrimage, which began July 25 and was scheduled to end on Sept. 5, was suspended.
The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for the pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes. More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or washed away many of the homes clustered together in the foothills, officials said.
Sneha, who gave only one name, said her husband and a daughter were swept away as floodwaters gushed down the mountain. The two were having a meal at the community kitchen while she and her son were nearby. The family had come for pilgrimage, she said.
Photos and videos on social media show extensive damage, with household goods strewn next to damaged vehicles and homes in the village. Authorities made makeshift bridges Friday to help stranded pilgrims cross a muddy water channel and used dozens of pieces of equipment to shift boulders, uprooted trees, electricity poles and other debris.
The Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region's fragile ecosystem.
Hundreds of tourists trapped by floods in Pakistan
In northern and northwestern Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 164 people in the past 24 hours, including 78 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district on Friday.
Dozens were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner, where authorities declared a state of emergency. Ambulances have transported 56 bodies to local hospitals, according to a government statement.
The helicopter that crashed on Friday was on a relief mission when it went down in the northwest, said provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded tourists from a mountainous Mansehra district hit by landslides on Thursday. At least 35 people were reported missing in these areas, according to local officials.
Rescuers backed by boats and helicopters worked to reach stranded residents. Dozens of villages were still missing and the death toll is likely to rise, Kashif Qayyum said.
More than 477 people, mostly women and children, have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Deaths were reported from different parts of Pakistan on Thursday.
Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesperson in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said rescuers worked for hours to save 1,300 tourists after they were trapped by flash flooding and landslides in the Siran Valley, in Mansehra district, on Thursday.
The Gilgit-Baltistan region has been hit by multiple floods since July, triggering landslides along the Karakoram Highway, a key trade and travel route linking Pakistan and China that is used by tourists to travel to the scenic north. The region is home to scenic glaciers that provide 75 per cent of Pakistan's stored water supply.
Pakistan's disaster management agency has issued fresh alerts for glacial lake outburst flooding in the north, warning travellers to avoid affected areas.
A study released this week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall in Pakistan from June 24 to July 23 was 10 to 15 per cent heavier because of global warming. In 2022, the country's worst monsoon season on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion US in damage.
WATCH | Six members of one family missing in landslide:
Six members of one family missing in India landslide
7 days ago
A mother and father recount the moment they learned of the flash flood and landslide that hit the Himalayan village of Dharali on Tuesday — and how they spoke with one of their children before the phone connection was lost and they weren't heard from again.
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CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
What are cloudbursts and why might a warming world make them even more dangerous?
An aerial view shows houses partially submerged in sludge along a riverbed in the aftermath of flash floods at the Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on August 17, 2025. (Abdul Majeed/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) Sudden and intense bursts of extreme rainfall are causing devastation across mountainous parts of South Asia, triggering flash floods, deadly mudflows and huge landslides that have washed out entire neighbourhoods and turned vibrant communities into heaps of mud and rubble. In northwest Pakistan, ferocious floods have crashed through villages, killing at least 321 people in the space of 48 hours, local authorities reported Saturday. More than 10 villages in the Buner region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were devastated by flash flooding, and dozens of people are believed to still be trapped under the thick mud and debris. In India-administered Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 were missing when walls of mud and water gushed through the Himalayan town of Chashoti on Friday, according to Reuters news agency. Earlier this month, another surge of flood water tore through a village in India's mountainous Uttarakhand state, leaving at least four people dead. Local authorities in both countries have said much of the deadly floods and landslides were triggered by sudden and violent bouts of torrential rain called cloudbursts. Scientists say these extreme episodes of rain, be they cloudbursts or longer periods of torrential downpours, are set to get more frequent and ferocious in this ecologically fragile region as the climate crisis intensifies. Here's what to know. What is a cloudburst? Cloudbursts are sudden, highly localized downpours that can be destructive by the sheer volume of water they unleash in a short period of time, often triggering dangerous flash floods and landslides. They occur in mountainous regions, especially during the monsoon season, when there is a lot of moisture in the air. The areas that have been inundated by destructive rains and floods in recent weeks are in the foothills of South Asia's giant mountain ranges that are home to the world's tallest peaks and glaciers. Monsoonal air hits those mountains, rapidly cooling as it rises and condenses into dense clouds that can then unleash torrents. The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as having a rainfall rate over 100 milimetres (4 inches) per hour. 'The Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush are especially vulnerable because of their steep slopes, fragile geology, and narrow valleys that funnel storm runoff into destructive torrents,' Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told CNN. Residents in Pakistan's hard-hit Salarzai described a torrent of mud and massive boulders that made the ground shake like an earthquake. Bayshonai Kalay flooding A resident stands as rainwater flows through a damaged area following heavy rains and flooding in Bayshonai Kalay, in Buner district, Pakistan, on August 18, 2025. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters via CNN Newsource) Why are they so devastating? These extreme, localized bursts of rain are difficult to forecast. 'This is also a data-sparse region, whether we are studying cloudbursts or glacial outburst floods, making it harder to understand, monitor, and forecast these events,' said Koll. 'The storms are also too small and fast for precise prediction.' The region's high poverty levels, a lack of infrastructure and access to basic facilities are also barriers to communicating what little information is available to communities who live there. 'The bigger gap is not the technology gap, it's the communication gap,' said Islamabad-based climate expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh. 'Weaker governance and lack of early warning systems' in these regions have compounded the problem, he added. Together with rampant deforestation and unplanned development, it's a deadly combination. 'Because of very heavy deforestation, any torrential rain and cloudburst will result in landslides, mudslides, they'll bring boulders and timber with them,' said Sheikh. There are often heavy casualties because 'a very high percentage of people live along the water bodies and the preparedness time is extremely limited,' he said. Flooded street Men transport water bottles on a motorbike through a flooded street amid a downpour in Lahore, Pakistan August 9, 2025. (Mohin Raza/Reuters via CNN Newsource) How is the climate crisis making extreme rain worse? Cloudbursts in the region have occurred with greater intensity and frequency in recent years, fuelled by record-shattering global temperatures. Warmer air soaks up water like a sponge, and all this extra moisture can result in extreme rain and sudden downpours like cloudbursts, especially when that air meets the mountains. 'Warmer oceans are loading the monsoon with extra moisture, and a warmer atmosphere holds more water, fueling intense rainfall when moist air is forced up steep mountain slopes,' said Koll, from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. During the southwest monsoon season, annual rains fall across parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh brought by winds from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, which have undergone rapid warming in recent years. Before this year's floods, prolonged heatwaves had baked the region. 'For each degree that's higher than the average temperature, there's 7% greater moisture in the air,' said Sheikh. 'If there's a stronger heatwave in the South Asian subcontinent, in India or in Pakistan, we can assume the rainfall will be heavier.' And melting glaciers are only adding to the disaster. The massive ranges of the Himalayas and Karakoram region house thousands of glaciers, which are melting and losing mass at an increasingly rapid rate as the world warms. 'While glacial melt does not directly cause cloudbursts, it creates unstable lakes and fragile terrain that can worsen their impacts through floods and landslides,' Koll said. Pakistan flooding In this aerial picture, volunteers carry aid for residents, after flash floods hit Buner district in northern Pakistan's mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on August 18, 2025. (Abdul Majeed/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) How has climate change already affected the region? Pakistan is responsible for less than 1 per cent of the world's planet-warming gases, European Union data shows, yet it is the most vulnerable nation to the climate crisis, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. Climate change has already altered the landscape of the region. 'The monsoon itself is shifting under climate change, with longer dry spells punctuated by short, extreme bursts of rain — patterns that have already tripled heavy rainfall events across India in recent decades,' said Koll. Pakistan suffered its most devastating monsoon season in recent times in 2022, when widespread flooding killed almost 2,000 people, displaced thousands and caused an estimated US$40 billion in damage. Deadly flooding has occurred every year since. A recent study found that rainfall that hit Pakistan between June and July this year was heavier because of the climate crisis. In Pakistan, the timing, location and quantity of monsoon rains has shifted so that that 'average rainfall seems to have decreased in Pakistan, but the frequency of torrential rains has increased,' said Sheikh. Drought and flooding can impact the country in the same month during the monsoon, so water availability is becoming more uncertain in a country already suffering a severe water crisis. 'That affects our food security and cropping patterns,' said Sheikh. The devastation and financial toll wrought by the floods in Pakistan, India and Nepal this year is what the climate crisis looks like at about 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming since industrialization. But the world is on track for around 3 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century, as humans continue to burn planet-heating fossil fuels. And scientists warn every fraction of a degree of warming will worsen the impacts of the crisis. Flooding damage A girl sits outside of her family home, which was damaged following heavy rains and flooding in Pacha Kalay Bazar, in Buner district, Pakistan, on August 18, 2025. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters via CNN Newsource) Call for countries to pull together The Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush regions span eight countries and extreme weather events in one have a knock-on effect in another. It is 'super critical' for the governments of these South Asian nations to come together, said Sheikh. 'We face the same set of problems, and there are similar solutions,' he said. 'But our ability to learn from each other and learn each other's scientific knowledge, communal knowledge, is absolutely handicapped. And that is very damaging for us.' But already fraught relations between Pakistan and India deteriorated to their lowest level in years in May when the two sides escalated a long-running conflict in Kashmir, leading India to suspend a key treaty that governs the sharing of the waters of the Indus river that flows through both countries. 'That's why the Indus Water Treaty needs another lease of life to tackle emerging climate threats and challenges in the water sector,' he said. For the millions of people who live downstream in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, building resiliency is key. By Helen Regan, Sophia Saifi, CNN
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
At least 56 dead, 80 missing after rains trigger flash floods in Kashmir
Flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote village in India-controlled Kashmir have left at least 56 people dead and scores missing, authorities said Thursday, as rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village brought at least 300 people to safety. Following a cloudburst in the region's Chositi village, which triggered floods and landslides, disaster management official Mohammed Irshad estimated that at least 80 people were still missing until late Thursday, with many believed to have been washed away. Irshad said that the count of missing people could increase as authorities continue to tally the figures. Officials halted rescue operations for the night, he said. Weather officials forecast more heavy rains and floods in the area. Destructive floods expose climate risks to infrastructure in South Asia Rescuers look for dozens missing after deadly flash floods kill four in northern India India's deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, warned that the disaster 'could result in substantial' loss of life. Susheel Kumar Sharma, a local official, said that at least 50 seriously injured people are being treated in local hospitals. Many were rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Chositi is a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir's Kishtwar district and is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet) and about an 8-kilometer (5-mile) trek from the village. Multiple pilgrims were also feared to be affected by the disaster. Officials said that the pilgrimage had been suspended and more rescue teams were on the way to the area to strengthen rescue and relief operations. The pilgrimage began on July 25 and was scheduled to end on Sept. 5. The first responders to the disaster were villagers and local officials who were later joined by police and disaster management officials, as well as personnel from India's military and paramilitary forces, Sharma said. Abdul Majeed Bichoo, a local resident and a social activist from a neighboring village, said that he witnessed the bodies of eight people being pulled out from under the mud. Three horses, which were also completely buried alongside them under debris, were 'miraculously recovered alive,' he said. The 75-year-old Bichoo said Chositi village had become a 'sight of complete devastation from all sides' following the disaster. 'It was heartbreaking and an unbearable sight. I have not seen this kind of destruction of life and property in my life,' he said. The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for the pilgrims as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes, officials said. They added that more than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen when the tragedy struck. The flash floods also damaged and washed away many homes, clustered together in the foothills. Photos and videos circulating on social media showed extensive damage caused in the village with multiple vehicles and homes damaged. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 'the situation is being monitored closely' and offered his prayers to 'all those affected by the cloudburst and flooding.' 'Rescue and relief operations are underway. Every possible assistance will be provided to those in need,' he said in a social media post. Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions, which are prone to flash floods and landslides. Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions. Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change, while damage from the storms also has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions. Kishtwar is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region's fragile ecosystem.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Pakistan restores electricity, reopens roads in areas where floods killed more than 300
Pakistan restored 70 per cent of electricity and reopened damaged roads in the country's north and northwest after flash floods killed more than 300 people, officials said Tuesday. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a news conference that engineers were working to fully restore the electricity system that was knocked out by flooding last week. Most roads have been cleared, facilitating the supply of food and other essential items to flood-affected areas, he said. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities to accelerate recovery efforts in Buner, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and a cloudburst Friday killed at least 280 people, Tarar said. Pakistani villagers scared to go home after deadly floods, with warnings of more rain to come Monsoon rains triggered floods that killed more than 700 people nationwide since June 26, the National Disaster Management Authority reported, while Tarar said more than 25,000 people have been evacuated. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif said military doctors are treating survivors and engineers are repairing damaged infrastructure. Troops using helicopters also have delivered food and supplies to remote villages cut off by floods and landslides. Last week's flooding in Buner was among the worst since the rains began late last month. Search teams aided by army sniffer dogs are still combing the district for about 150 missing people, rescue official Mohammad Suhail said. Buner residents accused authorities of failing to issue timely evacuation warnings and community elders said no alerts were broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional warning system in remote areas. Officials said the cloudburst struck so suddenly that warnings could not be delivered. Authorities have warned of a possible repeat of Pakistan's catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed nearly 1,700 people and were blamed on climate change.
