Pakistan monsoon death toll rises to 225 in 48 hours
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan defends flood response after over 270 people killed in northwestern district
BUNER, Pakistan: Torrential rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district of Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least seven people and injuring five others overnight, officials said Sunday. In Kishtwar district, teams are continuing their efforts in the remote village of Chositi, looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods last week. At least 60 were killed and some 150 injured, about 50 of them critically. In Pakistan, authorities on Sunday defended their response to climate-induced flash floods that killed more than 270 people in a single northwestern district. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency service, said 54 bodies were found after hours-long efforts in Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding on Friday. Similar cloudburst have also caused devastations in the Indian-administered Kashmir. Suhail said several villagers remain missing, and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying massive boulders that smashed into houses like explosions. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides between now and Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600. More intense weather to come? Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. There was no warning broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method in remote areas. The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted. Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told a hastily convened news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan was experiencing shifting weather patterns because of climate change. Since the monsoon season began in June, Pakistan has already received 50 percent more rainfall than in the same period last year, he added. He warned that more intense weather could follow, with heavy rains forecast to continue this month. Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said there was 'no forecasting system anywhere in the world' that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst. Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, said the lack of a timely warning system caused casualties and forced many to flee their homes at the last moment. 'Survivors escaped with nothing,' he said. 'If people had been informed earlier, lives could have been saved and residents could have moved to safer places.' People still missing Idrees Mahsud, a disaster management official, said Pakistan's early warning system used satellite imagery and meteorological data to send alerts to local authorities. These were shared through the media and community leaders. He said monsoon rains that once only swelled rivers now also triggered urban flooding. An emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half the damaged roads in the district had reopened by Sunday, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach cut-off villages. Crews were clearing piles of rocks and mud dumped by the floods. They were still using heavy machinery to remove the rubble of collapsed homes after families reported that some of their relatives were missing. In one of the deadliest incidents, 24 people from one family died in the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept through their home on the eve of a wedding. The head of the family, Umar Khan, said he survived the floods because he was out of the house at the time. Four of his relatives have yet to be found, he added. Extreme weather events Pakistan is highly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. In 2022, a record-breaking monsoon killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes. The country also suffers regular flash floods and landslides during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, particularly in the rugged northwest, where villages are often perched on steep slopes and riverbanks. Experts say climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events in South Asia. Khalid Khan, a weather expert, said Pakistan produces less than 1 percent of planet-warming emissions but faces heatwaves, heavy rains, glacial outburst floods and now cloudbursts, underscoring how climate change is devastating communities within hours. Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. Authorities rescued over 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims were evacuated to safety.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan to compensate survivors for losses after floods kill 312 in northwest since Aug. 15
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province will compensate survivors of this week's deadly floods, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur announced on Sunday, urging residents of disaster-prone areas to relocate from there. Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc in Pakistan's northern areas, especially its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where floods and landslides have killed over 312 people since Aug. 15, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan, which ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, has surged to 645 since Jun. 26. Apart from KP, 164 deaths have been reported in Punjab, 29 in Balochistan, 14 in Azad Kashmir, eight in Islamabad, and 28 each in Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh. Raging hill torrents flattened several homes and swept away dozens of people and in KP's Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram districts on Friday. Officials says around 54 bodies were found on Sunday in the worst-hit Buner district where cloudbursts triggered massive flooding. 'The data of all the losses is being compiled,' CM Gandapur told reporters in Buner. 'It is beyond our power to compensate the loss of lives, but we will compensate financial losses, damages to private property.' Residents in Buner have accused officials of failing to warn them to evacuate after torrential rain and cloudbursts triggered deadly flooding and landslides. Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, said the lack of a timely warning system caused casualties and forced many to flee their homes at the last moment. 'Survivors escaped with nothing,' he said. 'If people had been informed earlier, lives could have been saved and residents could have moved to safer places.' The government said that while an early warning system was in place, the sudden downpour in Buner was so intense that the deluge struck before residents could be alerted. Asfandyar Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said there was 'no forecasting system anywhere in the world' that could predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst. Several people are still missing and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by water torrents that swept down from the mountains, carrying massive boulders that smashed into houses like explosions. Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides till Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, CM Gandapur vowed the government infrastructure relating to health, water, road or education would be fully restored. He, however, noted that some of the villages were located in such areas where any calamities like cloudbursts and floods could hit any time. 'So, we want to resettle residents of those small villages at another place and we will build houses for them, but they should evacuate these dangerous areas,' Gandapur said.
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Pakistan defends flood response after over 270 people killed
BUNER, Pakistan — Torrential rains triggered new flash floods overnight in two villages in the Kathua district of Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least seven people and injuring five others, officials said Sunday. In Kishtwar district, search teams are still scouring the remote village of Chositi, where floods during an annual Hindu pilgrimage last week killed at least 60 people and injured 150 others. More than 300 others were rescued, but dozens remain missing. Meanwhile in Pakistan, officials defended their emergency response as the death toll from flash floods in the mountainous Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province climbed past 270. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service, said 54 bodies had been recovered from Buner after intense rains and cloudbursts triggered devastating torrents Friday. He said rescue efforts were ongoing, with teams focusing on homes flattened by rocks and water rushing down from the mountains. Authorities warned of continued rainfall and potential landslides through Tuesday, as monsoon deluges since June 26 have already killed over 600 people across residents accused officials of failing to issue timely evacuation alerts. Many said no warnings were broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a common method of communication in remote government maintained that early warning systems were in place but that the cloudburst over Buner was too sudden and intense to provide sufficient lead Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, told reporters that climate change is disrupting traditional weather patterns. He noted that Pakistan has received 50% more rainfall than the same period last Khan Khattak, director-general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, said, 'There is no forecasting system anywhere in the world that can predict the exact time and location of a cloudburst.'Mohammad Iqbal, a schoolteacher in Pir Baba village, said more lives could have been saved if warnings had been issued earlier. 'Survivors escaped with nothing,' he Qadar Nagar, one of the hardest-hit villages, 24 members of a single family died when floodwaters swept away their home on the eve of a wedding. The family's head, Umar Khan, said he survived only because he was away from home at the time. Four relatives remain teams reported that over half of Buner's damaged roads had been reopened by Sunday, allowing crews to reach previously cut-off areas. Heavy machinery is still being used to dig through the rubble of collapsed homes in search of which produces less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, remains one of the countries most vulnerable to climate-induced 2022, record monsoon flooding killed nearly 1,700 people and destroyed millions of homes. Experts warn that climate change is fueling more frequent and extreme weather events across South Asia, including glacial lake outbursts, deadly heatwaves, and now cloudbursts.
