The death toll from relentless monsoon rains in Pakistan continues to rise, with at least 220 people confirmed dead after flash floods and landslides swept away homes in the northwest, officials said Saturday.
Rescue teams recovered 63 additional bodies overnight in Buner district, one of the hardest-hit areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, emergency services spokesperson Mohammad Suhail said. Torrential rains and sudden cloudbursts triggered powerful floods on Friday, destroying dozens of homes and leaving many trapped.
Since June 2, approximately 541 people have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority, which attributed the above-average rainfall to climate change.
Efforts to find survivors continued in the worst-affected villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura. Kashif Qayyum, the deputy commissioner of Buner, said most of Friday’s casualties occurred in these two areas.
Residents described the floods as sudden and overwhelming. “We had no warning. The water came so fast, many didn’t even have time to step out of their homes,” said Mohammad Khan, 53, a resident of Pir Baba.
At a local government hospital in Buner, Dr. Mohammad Tariq said most of the deceased were already dead upon arrival. “Among the victims were mostly men and children, while many women were away in the hills collecting firewood and grazing livestock,” he noted.
The provincial disaster management authority reported that 351 people have died this week alone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan due to weather-related disasters.
Meanwhile, across the border in Indian-administered Kashmir, flash floods have also claimed dozens of lives and forced hundreds to flee. Cloudbursts and intense rainfall are becoming increasingly frequent in the Himalayan regions of both Pakistan and India — a phenomenon experts attribute to climate change.
Over 200 dead as flash floods hit India, Pakistan
Since Thursday, Pakistani rescue teams have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists from flood-stricken areas. Authorities have repeatedly urged people to avoid travel to northern and northwestern regions due to the risk of further landslides and flooding, but many have ignored the warnings.
Pakistan is still recovering from the devastating 2022 monsoon season, which left over 1,700 dead and caused an estimated $40 billion in damages.