
Monsoon rains wreak havoc, killing 10 in northwestern Pakistan during last 24 hours
As per the PDMA's preliminary report, the deceased include two men, two women and six children while the injured includes a man and one child. The report said that 10 houses were damaged in total, eight of which were partially damaged while two were completely destroyed due to rains and flash floods.
The incidents occurred in various districts of the province such as Swat, Bajaur, Buner, Upper Kohistan, Upper Chitral and Shangla, as per the PDMA report.
'The PDMA has directed the concerned district administrations to immediately provide assistance to the affected families and ensure the best possible medical treatment for the injured,' the disaster management authority said.
The development takes place as the death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan since June 26 has surged to 221, as per the National Disaster Management Authority's (NDMA) latest situation reported released on Monday evening.
Pakistan's most populous Punjab province has reported the highest number of deaths at 135, followed by 46 in KP, 22 in Sindh, 16 in Balochistan, and one each in the federal capital of Islamabad and Azad Kashmir.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department warned this week that landslides and mudslides may block roads in vulnerable areas of Murree, Galliyat, Azad Kashmir and GB, forecasting heavy rains till July 25. Torrential rains, windstorms and lightning could also damage weak structures, electric poles, billboards, vehicles and solar panels, it added.
3 DEAD, 15 MISSING IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN
The NDMA said three people had died after a cloudburst triggered flash floods on Babusar Road in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Monday afternoon. Various news reports said 15 tourists were missing after flash floods swept away several vehicles, damaging them in the process.
The authority said an area of approximately seven to eight kilometers on Babusar Road was affected, causing 14–15 major blockages due to landslides, debris and flash floods.
'Three dead bodies received at Regional Headquarters Chila, one injured person under treatment,' the NDMA said on Monday. 'Tourists stranded at various points were evacuated.'
The NDMA said Babusar Road was 'severely blocked,' adding that around 10–15 vehicles were stuck in nullahs and slide areas as authorities rescued stranded tourists in the area.
The twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were also lashed with heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours State broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported that Islamabad received the highest rainfall, 184 millimeters, over the past 24 hours.
Heavy rains led to urban flooding in the capital's Saidpur Village, as footage shared widely on social media showed severely damaged cars being swept away by raging currents in nullahs.
A video played by leading news channel Geo News showed a car with two people inside being swept away by floodwater. The news channel claimed the incident took place in Rawalpindi's Defense Housing Authority Phase 5 area.
Monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall, arriving in early June in India and late June in Pakistan, and lasting through until September.
In 2022, record-breaking monsoon rains combined with glacial melt submerged nearly a third of Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people and displacing over 8 million. In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, including strong hailstorms.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
10 hours ago
- Arab News
Fires engulf Turkiye's Mediterranean coast as government declares 2 disaster zones
ISTANBUL: New wildfires broke out on Turkiye's Mediterranean coast Friday, as the government declared two western provinces in the country to be disaster zones. Images showed flames and smoke billowing into the sky close to high-rise apartment buildings in Antalya, where local and foreign visitors flock during the summer months. Homes were evacuated in the city center and the outlying district of Aksu as the fire advanced, privately owned news agency DHA reported. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the blazes before strong winds could spread the fire, which closed a major coastal road. Further along the coast, homes in the city of Manavgat were also threatened. Local residents with hoses and buckets rushed to assist firefighters as water-dropping helicopters and planes also battled the flames. Police water cannons and municipal water trucks were also enlisted in the firefighting efforts. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday that Izmir and Bilecik provinces had been declared 'disaster areas affecting public life,' one step below the most serious level of emergency. Between June 27 and Thursday, residents from 120 neighborhoods nationwide were evacuated, Yerlikaya added, and more than 12,000 workers under the ministry's authority, such as police and rescue staff, had fought the fires. In a social media post, the minister said 311 homes had been destroyed or seriously damaged during the monthlong blazes and 85 temporary housing units were set up across three western provinces for those made homeless. Turkiye has faced widespread outbreaks of forest fires since late June. Thirteen people have died, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir, western Turkiye. The funerals for the 10 were on Thursday. Temperatures above seasonal norms have been exacerbated by strong winds and dry conditions, resulting in dozens of wildfires. East of Antalya, fires broke out in Adana and Mersin on Friday. Elsewhere in the country, firefighters continued battling blazes in Eskisehir and nearby Karabuk that have been raging for several days. The heat wave in the eastern Mediterranean region saw 1,000 firefighters and soldiers battle flames in Albania as temperatures reached 42 C (107 F). In the Albanian city of Elbasan, firefighters have been combating a weeklong blaze in the country's central mountain forests. Fires have also broke out near the southern border with Greece.


Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Indonesia, EMSC says
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Thursday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. The quake was at a depth of 30 km (19 miles), EMSC said.


Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Retired colonel's body swept away in flood recovered as Pakistan monsoon toll hits 260
ISLAMABAD: The body of a retired army officer swept away in a flash flood in Rawalpindi earlier this week was recovered on Thursday, as Pakistan continued to battle a deadly monsoon season that has killed at least 260 people and injured 617 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). 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.