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Pakistan flash floods leave 49 dead, hundreds missing in northern regions
In this photo released by Rescue 1122 Emergency Department, rescue workers and local residents gather at the site of a massive cloudburst led to flash flooding in Salarzai, Pakistan. AP
Flash floods caused by torrential rains killed at least 49 people in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere in the nation over the last 24 hours, authorities said Friday, as rescuers rescued 1,300 trapped tourists from a hilly area ravaged by landslides.
Since June 26, more than 360 people in Pakistan have died in rain-related accidents, the majority being women and children. Local officials claim that the majority of the most recent killings occurred in northern and northwestern Pakistan.
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At least ten people were killed Thursday by flash floods in Ghazar district, Gilgit-Baltistan, according to regional government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq.
Another 16 people, including women and children, also died Thursday in Bajaur district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when a massive cloudburst led to flash flooding, said rescue official Amjad Khan. He said 17 others were swept away and remain missing.
Flash floods also hit Battagram, a district in the northwest, killing 10 people, government administrator Saleem Khan said. He said another 18 people were still missing.
Seven more people died Thursday in separate rain-related incidents in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which is split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety, according to the state disaster management authority.
Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman 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.
Faraq said Gilgit-Baltistan 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.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari in a statement expressed his sorrow and grief over the losses and asked authorities to expedite the rescue and relief work in the flood-affected areas.
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Gilgit-Baltistan is also home to scenic glaciers that provide 75% of Pakistan's stored water supply. Pakistan's disaster management agency has issued fresh alerts for glacial lake outburst flooding in the north, warning travelers to avoid affected areas.
A study released this week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier because of global warming. Experts say sudden, intense downpours over small areas — known as cloudbursts — are becoming increasingly common in the country.
In 2022, the country's worst monsoon season on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.
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Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Rescuers scour debris as J&Kflash flood toll hits 60, may rise
Rescuers continued digging through thick mud and debris in a remote Jammu & Kashmir village on Friday in search of survivors as the toll from a flash flood that tore through the hamlet a day earlier rose to 60 with several still missing, officials said. Stranded pilgrims are helped across a water channel using a makeshift bridge a day after flash floods in Chishoti village, Kishtwar district. (AP) Hundreds of personnel from security forces and disaster-relief agencies were scouring Chishoti village in Kishtwar district after torrential rain triggered a deluge that swept away a community kitchen and multiple structures along the route of an annual pilgrimage. 'The loss of lives is heart breaking. According to the information received, some 60 people have lost their lives, and many more are missing. We do not know their exact figure,' J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said during an Independence Day event. Rescue teams comprising of army, Border Security Force (BSF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and J&K police personnel set up makeshift bridges over a rivulet, located next to the village, to bring the rescued to safety, officials aware of the matter said. 'The number of injured has gone to 116. Searches are on, but we don't have any exact number of those missing. The area has a pile of slush, boulders, trees and flattened houses. The rescuers are using 12 JCB machines to remove debris and trace missing pilgrims,' an official involved in the rescue efforts said on condition of anonymity. New visuals that emerged of Thursday's incident showed a blast of muddy water, silt and rubble tearing through the steep slopes of the village, washing away roads, trees and bringing down houses along its path. The deluge also flattened a makeshift market where a community kitchen was being organised and overran a CISF picket in Chishoti, located around 80km from the Kishtwar district headquarters. The village was brimming with devotees, who had gathered for the annual pilgrimage to the Chandi Mata temple in Machail village at the time of the disaster. The pilgrimage began on July 25 and was scheduled to continue till September 5. It has been put on hold. Chishoti is the last motorable village on the way to the temple and serves as the point where the devotees start the 8.5-kilometre trek to the 9,500-feet-high identities of the deceased were not immediately known, but officials said that most of them could be pilgrims. 'I suddenly felt the ground shaking. There were around 150 pilgrims inside the langar. Everything was swept away within seconds. I ran towards the hill and escaped,' Pardeep Singh, a sewadar or volunteer at the community kitchen, said. Sneha Mehra, 32, one of the pilgrims, said she and her family members were swept away in the flash flood.'I was trapped in mud under a vehicle, surrounded by bodies – some of them children. After gaining my senses, I crawled to safety,' she said. Mehra was eventually reunited with her family. Nirmala Devi, a resident of the village, said her father and uncle were among the missing. 'My father, Bodh Raj, and uncle Dinanath were performing priest duties in the local temple. Both of them, along with some 15 people, were washed away in the flash floods,' she said. The disaster came nine days after flash floods wreaked havoc in Dharali village of Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district, ripping into buildings, power lines and vehicles. Just one person has been confirmed dead in the incident, but 68 continue to be missing. The weather department in J&K had predicted heavy rainfall, and Abdullah said they will ascertain if authorities failed to act on the warning. 'We will have to figure out why this happened. Was there any lapse on the part of the administration because we already had a weather forecast about heavy rains and flash floods?' Abdullah, who reached Kishtwar late in the evening said. The CM said he apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the ground situation and was assured of all possible help from the Centre. Union minister Jitendra Singh said he has also left for Kishtwar. 'Enroute to the cloud burst site in Chositi, I had left from Jammu by an Indian Air Force helicopter, but the chopper returned back after flying for one hour without finding it feasible to land. Immediately thereafter, I've left by road to reach the affected site as early as possible,' he posted on X.
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First Post
7 hours ago
- First Post
At least 243 dead in Pakistan as monsoon rains trigger flash floods, landslides
The death toll from heavy monsoon rains that have triggered landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan has risen to at least 243 people in the last 24 hours. Onlookers gather near a destroyed bridge after flash floods on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on August 15, 2025. Image- AFP Heavy monsoon rains have unleashed landslides and flash floods across northern Pakistan, killing at least 243 people in the past 24 hours, including 157 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district in northwest Pakistan on Friday. Mohammad Suhail told The Associated Press that dozens of people were still missing, and rescue operations were underway. He said 78 bodies were recovered from various parts of the district by midday Friday, and another 79 were pulled from the rubble of collapsed homes and flooded villages later. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The death toll may rise as we are still looking for dozens of missing people,' Suhail said. Dozens were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner, where authorities declared a state of emergency Friday. Ambulances have transported more than 100 bodies to hospitals, according to a government statement. Officials said many victims died in flash floods or when their homes collapsed. Meanwhile, a helicopter crashed during a rescue mission in monsoon-hit northern Pakistan Friday, killing five crew on board, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said in a statement. 'An MI-17 helicopter of the provincial government, carrying relief goods for rain-affected areas of Bajaur, crashed in the Pandiyali area of Mohmand district due to bad weather,' Ali Amin Gandapur said in a statement. 'Five crew members, including two pilots, were killed." Rescuers backed by boats and helicopters worked to reach stranded residents. Dozens of villagers were still missing and the death toll is likely to rise, Buner government administrator Kashif Qayyum said. The latest fatalities bring the total number of rain-related deaths to 556 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 spokesman 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. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, at an emergency meeting, ordered the disaster management authority to ensure the evacuation of tourists and all those hit by the floods. 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% of Pakistan's stored water supply. 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% 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 in damage. With inputs from agencies
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Deadly monsoon rains lash Pakistan, around 200 people killed
PESHAWAR: Heavy monsoon rains have triggered landslides and flash floods across a remote region of northern Pakistan, killing at least 194 people in the last 24 hours, disaster authorities said Friday. Of those, 180 were reported in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the National Disaster Management Authority said. Another nine people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and five more in the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan, it said. Seven more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, regional disaster management authorities said. "So far, across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more than 110 people have died due to cloudbursts, flash floods and roof collapses," PDMA spokesperson Anwar Shehzad told AFP. Another 60 people have been injured, he added. He said Buner, Bajaur, Mansehra and Battagram have been declared disaster-hit districts. In Bajaur, a tribal district abutting Afghanistan, a crowd amassed around an excavator trawling a mud-soaked hill, AFP photos showed. Funeral prayers began in a paddock nearby, with people grieving in front of several bodies covered by blankets. The meteorological department has issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging people to avoid "unnecessary exposure to vulnerable areas".
