More than 300 people dead in Pakistan after heavy rains, floods
August 16, PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Following two days of intense rainfall and flash floods, local officials in northwest Pakistan said on Saturday that more than 300 people had died.
The most deadly downpour of this year’s monsoon season caused landslides, lightning strikes, flash floods, and cloud bursts in the isolated mountainous northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area.
By Saturday, 307 were confirmed dead, with more people missing, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
Areas of nearby India and Nepal have also faced severe impacts from heavy rainfall, flooding, and other rain-associated events during the past week.
In the Bajaur district, near the Afghan border, Saeedullah was resting in his yard on Thursday night when he was awakened by a loud thunderclap.
He hurried to his home where his family was sleeping to discover the roof had fallen in. With assistance from neighbors, he sifted through the rubble and discovered the remains of his wife and five kids.
He mentioned he believed the house was struck by lightning, with sections ignited before the rain arrived. He mentioned that he laid his family to rest on Friday, aided by the community.
“There is destruction everywhere, piles of rubble,” Saeedullah, 42, said.
Bilal Faizi, a representative for the nation’s official 1122 rescue service, noted that he anticipated an increase in the death toll as additional bodies are retrieved from beneath the rubble of houses.
Buner district, situated north of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, has been the most affected, with 184 confirmed fatalities to date.
Faizi reported that a cloudburst occurred in Buner early Friday, generating a rush of water that flowed down to the villages below. “There was no opportunity for anyone to respond,” Faizi stated
Zahid Hussain, 62, a resident of Beshonrai village, in Buner, said that more than 60 people had lost their lives in his village and more than 20 were missing.
He said he told his family to flee when he noticed water rising quickly in a stream near his house that swept towards his front door.
One of his nephews became stuck and fractured his leg as the waters increased. Hussain saved him and brought him to a hospital in Buner.
“The floodwaters swept away our home right before our eyes,” Hussain shared with Reuters from the hospital. “In just a few minutes, we lost our home.”
Over 30 houses in the village were carried away.
Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, stated that rescue and relief operations were being conducted by both civilian and military teams, while an emergency meeting was chaired by the prime minister.
Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah noted that local authorities were sent to the inundated regions to oversee aid efforts and evaluate the destruction.
He mentioned that medical camps were being organized for the flood victims, along with provisions for food for families who have lost their homes.
On Friday, a helicopter assigned for rescue operations crashed because of poor weather conditions, resulting in the deaths of the five crew members.
Zaheer Babar, the top meteorologist in Pakistan, noted that there has been a rise in both the occurrence and severity of extreme weather events in the country.
He mentioned that intense rainfall in the mountains resulted in individuals in lower regions being unaware of the severity of the downpour until it came to them as a sudden flood.
He stated that climate change was one factor, but it was exacerbated by houses being constructed near rivers and streams, while construction activities and littering restricted some waterways, hindering the dispersal of rainfall