Floods in Pakistan leave at least 220 dead
Rescuers in northwest Pakistan pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by landslides and flash floods, raising the death toll from rain-related incidents to at least 220, officials said Saturday.
Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away.
According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In recent days, floods in Indian-controlled Kashmir have taken dozens of lives, and driven hundreds from their homes there and in Pakistan.
Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The Mainichi
a day ago
- The Mainichi
Pakistan's monsoon flooding death toll rises to 220 as forecasters warn of more rain to come
BUNER, Pakistan (AP) -- Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed at least 220 people, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides, with forecasts of more rain in the coming days. One eyewitness, who escaped the deluges in Buner, described seeing floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders and "tons of rocks" crashing down. Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away. First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner. Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes. "A stream near Pir Baba village in Buner swelled without warning. At first, we thought it was a normal flash flood, but when tons of rocks came crashing down with the water, 60 to 70 houses were swept away in moments," Khan told The Associated Press, adding that many bodies were left mutilated. "Our police station was washed away too and if we hadn't climbed to higher ground, we would not have survived," Khan said. Pakistan's Meteorological Department predicted torrential rains in the coming days and warned that monsoon activity was likely to intensify from Sunday onwards, including in the north and northwest. Higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall Rescuers said they saw large swathes of Pir Baba village destroyed, wrecked homes, and giant rocks filling the streets as the water started to recede. "It was not just the floodwater, it was a flood of boulders as well, which we saw for the first time in our lives," said Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm. Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods "came so fast that many could not leave their homes." Most victims died before reaching the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, a doctor in Buner. "Many among the dead were children and men, while women were away in the hills collecting firewood and grazing cattle." Pakistani leaders, including the prime minister and president, offered their condolences to the families of the dead and said they were praying for the speedy recovery of the injured. The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, said efforts were underway to repair roads and other damaged infrastructure. Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, which experts link to climate change, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed some 541 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. 'Grief and sorrow everywhere' Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, while authorities supplied tents and food to people in Buner. Local cleric Mufti Fazal had led funeral prayers at multiple locations since Friday morning. "Before yesterday's floods, the area was bustling with life. Now, there is grief and sorrow everywhere." Schoolteacher Suleman Khan lost 25 members of his extended family. He and his brother survived only because they were away from home when the floods hit his village Qadar Nagar. In Pir Baba, mourners laid out the covered bodies of their loved ones on wooden bedframes or bore them aloft ahead of burials. In a hospital, paramedics placed blocks of ice next to the deceased or comforted the injured. According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Tourists trapped in flood-hit areas In India-controlled Kashmir, rescuers scoured the remote village of Chositi in the district of Kishtwar on Saturday, looking for dozens of missing people after it was hit by flash floods two days earlier, killing 60 and injuring some 150, about 50 in critical condition. Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the area. Authorities have rescued over 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to safety. Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor. Pakistani officials said rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists trapped in flood-hit areas across the country. Many travelers have ignored government warnings about avoiding vulnerable regions in the north and northwest. Pakistan witnessed its worst-ever monsoon season in 2022. It killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.
Japan Today
2 days ago
- Japan Today
Floods in Pakistan leave at least 220 dead
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/Sherin Zada) Rescuers in northwest Pakistan pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by landslides and flash floods, raising the death toll from rain-related incidents to at least 220, officials said Saturday. Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away. According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan. In recent days, floods in Indian-controlled Kashmir have taken dozens of lives, and driven hundreds from their homes there and in Pakistan. Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- The Mainichi
Flash floods kill more than 280 people in India and Pakistan as thousands flee
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed over 280 people in India and Pakistan and left scores of others missing, officials said Friday, as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries. Flooding began a day earlier in Indian-controlled Kashmir and spread to the north and northwest in Pakistan, triggered by sudden, intense downpours over small areas. The floods and subsequent landslides injured dozens of people and forced the evacuation and rescue of thousands of others, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor. Leaders in both countries offered their condolences to the victims' families and assured them of swift relief. Dozens missing in remote Himalayan village In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said. At least 300 people were rescued Thursday following a powerful cloudburst that triggered floods and landslides, but the operation was halted overnight. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away, and the number of missing could increase. Resident Harvinder Singh said he joined the rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped retrieve 33 bodies from the mud. At least 50 seriously injured people were treated at hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Chositi, in Kashmir's Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet). Officials said the pilgrimage, which began July 25 and was scheduled to end Sept. 5, was suspended. The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen for 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. The two were having meals at the community kitchen while she and her son were nearby. The family had come for the pilgrimage, she said. Authorities erected makeshift bridges Friday to help stranded pilgrims cross a muddy water channel and used dozens of earthmovers to shift boulders, uprooted trees, electricity poles and other debris. Nearly 4,000 pilgrims were evacuated, officials said. Photos and videos on social media showed household goods strewn next to damaged vehicles and homes in the village. Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region's fragile ecosystem. More heavy rain and floods were forecast for the area. Hundreds of tourists trapped by floods in Pakistan In northern and northwestern Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 243 people, including 157 who died Friday in the Buner district in northwest Pakistan. Mohammad Suhail told The Associated Press that dozens of people were still missing, and rescue operations were underway. He said 78 bodies were recovered by midday Friday, and another 79 were pulled from the rubble of collapsed homes and flooded villages later. "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 on Friday. Rescuers backed by boats and helicopters worked to reach stranded residents. Ambulances transported more than 100 bodies to hospitals, according to a government statement. Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said rescuers worked for hours to save 2,000 tourists trapped by flash flooding and landslides in the Siran Valley in Mansehra district and elsewhere on Thursday. 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. A helicopter carrying relief supplies to the northwestern Bajaur region crashed due to bad weather, killing all five people on board, including two pilots, a government statement said. The latest fatalities bring the total number of rain-related deaths to 556 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority. Region hit by multiple floods in recent weeks Pakistan's 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 tourists use to travel to the scenic north. The region is home to scenic glaciers that provide 75% of Pakistan's stored water supply. During the summer, when schools are closed for more than two months, hundreds of thousands of people travel to scenic destinations in northern and northwestern Pakistan. This year, despite repeated government warnings about landslides and flash floods, many still visited popular resorts in flood-hit areas. 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 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.
