250 Indians, Pakistanis die as flash floods batter South Asia
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Flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more than 250 people in Pakistan and India, bringing severe devastation across the South Asian region.Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said at least 194 people had died and 23 were injured in the past 24 hours. In India's northernmost region of Jammu and Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 injured.Local police and other agencies are carrying out search and rescue operations in Kishtwar in India, about 200 kilometres from Srinagar, and in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, which is the worst hit. Authorities in India estimate scores of people remain buried under the debris.Pakistan has so far rescued more than 2,000 people stranded in the floods, according to posts by the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.In a post on X on Friday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he would 'review the rescue operation and assess what further help is required.'The cloudburst triggered landslides and mudslides, destroying houses, temples, a bridge, government buildings and vehicles. A community kitchen for pilgrims, along with a nearby security camp, was washed away.The cloudburst struck around 12:30 PM on Thursday in the Chisoti area, about 90 km from Kishtwar town, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple. A large number of pilgrims were in the area for the annual yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5. Many people in Hamori village nearby could not be contacted as power lines were down and mobile devices had no charge.India's weather department has predicted above-average rainfall for the June-September monsoon. Cloudbursts, floods and landslides have claimed lives in recent months, with hilly areas worst affected. Last week, floods swept away an entire village in Uttarakhand.At least 477 people have died in Pakistan since June due to floods. Authorities said this year's monsoon is 65% more intense than last year and future rainy seasons are likely to be more severe due to climate change.
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Indian Express
13 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Pakistan floods claim over 300 lives in 48 hours as monsoon rains wreak havoc: 10 points
Sudden floods triggered by torrential rains have killed more than 300 people across Pakistan, authorities said Saturday, as entire villages in the mountainous north-west were devastated. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported at least 321 deaths in the last 48 hours, with 307 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Nine fatalities were recorded in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and five in Gilgit-Baltistan. Weeks of relentless monsoon rains, massive landslides and raging floodwaters have torn through the region since early June, sweeping away entire neighbourhoods and leaving homes in ruins. Rescue workers said more than ten villages were reduced to rubble in Buner district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Many residents remain missing as washed-out roads and landslides blocked access. More than 30 homes in the village were swept away. The district situated north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was the worst-hit, with 184 confirmed killed so far, Reuters reported. Rescue workers and local residents search for bodies of victims of Friday's flash flooding through the rubble of damaged houses at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Over 120 bodies have been recovered from this area alone so far. Just a few days ago, there was a vibrant, living community here. Now, there's nothing but heaps of large rocks and debris,' Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for Rescue 122, told CNN. In Salarzai, a subdivision of Bajaur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, one of the worst-hit areas, locals described the flooding as apocalyptic. 'When the rain intensified, it wasn't long before I felt as if an earthquake had struck — the whole ground was shaking,' said Farhad Ali, a student, CNN reported. Rescuers and local residents use heavy machinery to recover bodies during a rescue operation at the site of a massive cloudburst that led to flash flooding, in Salarzai, in Bajaur district, in northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Qyass Khan) 'In the pouring rain, my entire family ran outside, and we saw a torrent of mud and massive boulders rushing through the stream near our house. It felt like doomsday had arrived, with scenes straight out of the end of the world.' AFP reported villagers gathered for funeral prayers in a paddock, weeping over bodies covered in blankets as excavators dug through mud-soaked hills. Around 2,000 rescue workers have been deployed across nine districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, but officials say relief operations remain extremely difficult. The provincial government has designated the hardest-hit mountainous districts — Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram — as disaster zones. 'Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances,' Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesperson for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency, told AFP. Rescue workers transport the body of a victim of Friday's flash flooding after recovering it from the rubble of a damaged house at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) 'Due to road closures in most areas, rescue workers are travelling on foot to conduct operations in remote regions. They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris.' Separately, five crew members died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when a helicopter crashed during relief efforts, a provincial official confirmed. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rain alert for the north-west, warning of intensified rainfall from Sunday with the risk of flash floods and urban flooding. Social media videos showed huge torrents of brown water tearing through villages. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Friday to review rescue operations after what officials described as one of the deadliest cloudbursts in recent years. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said civilian and military teams were leading rescue and relief efforts, while the prime minister had convened an emergency meeting to review the crisis. Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah told Reuters that local officials had been deployed to the worst-hit areas to oversee operations and assess damage. He said medical camps were being set up for survivors, alongside arrangements to provide food to families who had lost their homes. The monsoon season in South Asia provides three-quarters of annual rainfall, but this year's rains began earlier and are expected to last longer, said Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah of the NDMA. 'The next 15 days… the intensity of the monsoon will further exacerbate,' he told AFP. A boy sits in front of shops damaged by Friday's flash flooding on the outskirts of Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) The NDMA says more than 600 people have been killed this monsoon season. In Punjab province, rainfall in July was 73 per cent higher than last year, with more deaths already than the entire 2024 monsoon. Pakistan remains one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries. Floods in 2022 submerged a third of the country and killed around 1,700 people. Pakistan's chief meteorologist Zaheer Babar said the country has witnessed a rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. He told Reuters that heavy rains in the mountains often triggered flash floods downstream, catching people in lower-lying areas off guard. 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) While climate change was a major driver, Babar said the impact had been worsened by homes built alongside rivers and streams, and by waterways constricted due to construction and garbage dumping, which made it harder for rainfall to disperse. Heavy rains have also battered neighbouring India and Nepal over the past week, causing deadly floods and landslides. In Kashmir, at least 60 people were killed and more than 200 reported missing in the pilgrimage town of Chashoti on Friday. In Nepal, 41 people lost their lives and 121 others were injured, according to the country's disaster management authority, cited by Reuters.
Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
Viral video captures deadly flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; death toll in Pakistan crosses 300
Pakistan Flash Floods: More than 300 people were killed in flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in Khyaber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province in northwest Pakistan over the past 24 hours. Cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and building collapses caused fatalities in the hills and mountains of the province. Buner district was the worst affected, where floods and heavy rain killed around 100 people, KPK's Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, told Reuters. 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 Associated Press. Many bodies were left mutilated, he added. Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services, reported Associated Press. A helicopter carrying relief supplies to those hit by flooding in Bajaur, close to the Afghan border, also crashed due to the bad weather, killing five crew members. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) In Swat district, more than 2,000 people were moved to safer area, after rivers and streams swelled, rescue officials said, reported Reuters. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting to review the flood situation, an official statement said. In recent weeks, hundreds of people were killed as the nation experienced more rain than usual during the current monsoon season, washing away roads and buildings. Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, while authorities supplied tents and food items to flood-affected people in Buner. 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.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Need to consult experts for risk mitigation: J&K CM in Kishtwar
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday expressed concern over the recent natural calamities in the Union Territory, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and called for consultation with experts to see what can be done to 'mitigate the risks and dangers'. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah during his visit to Chisoti village in Kishtwar district on Saturday after a flash flood triggered by cloudburst led to damage and devastation. (PTI Photo) Talking to reporters near Chasoti on his return to this cloudburst-hit remote village in Kishtwar district, he said the entire Himalayan belt is now more prone to glacial lake bursts and cloudbursts. He was responding to a question about the possibility of forming a team of experts by his government to safeguard the fragile ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir. 'We are going to have a look at it. It is not just what is happening in J&K. Look at the scary videos that we saw from Uttarakhand. What is happening in Himachal? We are all now, I think, prone to these glacial lake bursts and cloudbursts. To deal with this freak weather, we will have to collectively and individually consult experts to see what we can do to mitigate the risks and the dangers of these things,' Abdullah said. Chief minister Omar Abdullah using a virtual reality headset while being briefed about the destruction due to the flash flood in Kishtwar. (PTI Photo) Around 60 people were killed and over 100 injured when a massive cloudburst triggered flash floods at Chasoti, the last motorable village en route to the Machail Mata temple in Kishtwar district, on Thursday afternoon. Over 80 people are reported missing by their family members following the cloudburst. Asked whether his government will regulate pilgrimages in the mountainous regions, he said that earlier these yatras were restricted to small groups of pilgrims ranging between 100 and 400 but now thousands of people are visiting. 'Obviously, after seeing the changing patterns of the weather, we will have to think about a little more regulation, registration, etc. But if I make an announcement today, then it will be a mistake on my part because people's religious emotions are also involved in this,' he said. 'We have to consult the religious leader, the people who are associated with these local pilgrimages, and take some steps,' Abdullah said. He said though around 80 people were reported missing in the flash floods triggered by cloudburst, it is not the final number. 'Some people might have no mobile coverage or stopped halfway due to the circumstances (cloudburst). So do not take it (missing figures) as the final number. It will keep changing from time to time,' the CM said. He said the flash floods brought down big rocks and 'where we are standing used to be a river (bank). This was not a lake. It is a river, which has changed into a lake after the recent cloudburst. Some people washed away by the flash flood cannot be ruled out and our efforts are to find them and retrieve their bodies so that these could be handed over to their families.' Chief minister Omar Abdullah with officials at Chasoti village, 90km from Kishtwar town, on Monday. (PTI Photo) Local residents confront CM The anger of people seeking information about their kin missing in the aftermath of a cloudburst is quite understandable, Abdullah said after several residents confronted him in Chasoti and vented their frustration. He said the focus of the rescue operation right now is to find those still trapped under the debris.A coordinated operation is underway in the village where 80 people have been reported missing by their families, even as locals and witnesses claim that hundreds may have been swept away by the flash flood and buried under boulders, logs, and rubble. After being briefed by a senior army officer, the chief minister met affected families on both sides of the stream, connected by a makeshift bridge made of logs. The chief minister invited them to a nearby tent to listen to their grievances, but some of them were reluctant. Following this, Abdullah left the scene. 'I can understand their anger. They have been waiting for their missing family members for the past two days. They want an answer. They want to know if their family members will come out alive or not,' he told reporters on his return journey. The chief minister said the demand of the people is that if those missing are no longer alive, then the bodies should be handed over to them at the earliest for the last rites. All-out rescue efforts underway 'We have deployed as many forces as we could, whether it is the NDRF, SDRF, Army, Jammu and Kashmir police or the CISF. We are trying to rescue the trapped people. And where there is no rescue, we will at least retrieve the bodies and hand them over to their families,' Abdullah said. Tragedy struck Chasoti around 12:25 pm on August 14, flattening a makeshift market, a community kitchen site for the pilgrimage, and a security outpost. At least 16 houses and government buildings, three temples, four water mills, a 30-metre-long bridge, and over a dozen vehicles were also damaged in the flash flood. The annual Machail Mata Yatra, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to conclude on September 5, remained suspended for the third consecutive day on Saturday. The 8.5-km trek to the 9,500-foot-high shrine starts from Chasoti, around 90km from Kishtwar town.
