United News of Bangladesh

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.  

Pakistan has issued a glacial flood alert for its northwest region as heavy rains are expected to continue in the coming week, officials said Saturday. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is experiencing heavier downpours than the same period last year, prompting warnings of flooding from glacial lake outbursts, according to Anwar Shahzad, spokesperson for the local disaster management authority. A letter issued mid-July warned that persistent high temperatures could accelerate snow and glacier melting, increasing the risk of severe weather events in vulnerable areas. Dr. Abdul Samad of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Department said rescue teams evacuated more than 500 tourists from Naran following a cloudburst Friday night that blocked the main road. Authorities deployed heavy machinery to clear debris and reopen access. In Gilgit-Baltistan, the government distributed hundreds of tents, thousands of food packets, and medicine to flood-affected communities. Death toll rises to 16 in Pakistan building collapse Spokesperson Faizullah Firaq described the situation as “severe destruction” in several areas, with damage to homes, infrastructure, crops, and businesses. Search operations are ongoing for missing persons along the Babusar Highway, where floods affected nine villages. Helicopters rescued tourists stranded at the popular Fairy Meadows site. Pakistan has received above-average rainfall during this monsoon season, raising fears of a repeat of the devastating 2022 floods that submerged one-third of the country and killed 1,737 people. So far, around 260 deaths have been reported this season, which is expected to last until mid-September. Despite being among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, Pakistan is one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitters globally.