Hundreds die in Pakistan after sudden floods, landslides

Floods in the northwest of Pakistan killed more than 220 people in the last 48 hours, authorities said on Saturday, since rescuers withdrew 63 more bodies during the night of the houses flattened by sudden floods and landslides.

Pakistan has received higher monzone rains than normal this year, causing floods and landslides that have killed more than 540 people since June 26, according to the National Authority for Disaster Management.

A resident told News that sudden floods felt like “the end of the world” when the ground shook with the force of water.

“I heard a strong noise as if the mountain slid. I ran and I saw the whole area shaking, as if it were the end of the world,” said Azizullah.

“The ground trembled due to the force of water, and it seemed that death was looking at my face.”

Hundreds of rescue workers are still looking for survivors in Buner, one of several places in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where torrential rains and cloud bubbles caused mass floods on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, spokesperson for emergency services. Dozens of houses were swept.

The first to respond have been trying to recover bodies from the villages of the worst blow of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the deaths were, said Kashif Qayyum, an attached commissioner in Buner.

Local Police officer Imtiaz Khan, who escaped by little of the injuries, said that the waters of floods transported hundreds of rocks hit and flattened houses in a matter of minutes.

“A stream near the village of Pire Baba in Buner swelled without prior notice. At first, we thought it was a normal sudden flood, but when tons of rocks collapsed with the water, 60 to 70 houses were swept at times,” Khan told The News, and added that many bodies were mutilated.

“Our police station was also dragged, and if we had not risen to a higher land, we would not have survived.”

The rescuers said they saw large extensions of village of pint baba destroyed, destroyed houses and giant rocks that filled the streets when the water began to go back.

“It was not just the water of the flood, it was also an avalanche of rocks, which we saw for the first time in our lives,” said Sultán Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm.

Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods “arrived so fast that many could not leave their homes.”

Most of the victims died before arriving at the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, Buner doctor. “Many of the dead were children and men, while women were in the hills collecting firewood and grazing cattle,” he said.

The mourners attended the mass funerals on Saturday, while the authorities supplied tents and food to people affected by floods in Buner.

The local cleric Mufti Fazal said he directed funeral prayers in multiple places from Friday morning. “Before yesterday’s floods, the area was full of life. Now, there is pain and sadness everywhere.”

Suleman Khan school teacher lost 25 members of his extended family, saying that he and his brother survived just because they were away from home when floods hit their village, Qadar Nagar.

According to the Provincial Authority for Disaster Management, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Northern Region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

Almost 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) in cashmere controlled by India, rescuers toured the remote town of Chositi in the Kishtwar district on Saturday, looking for dozens of missing people after it was hit by sudden floods two days ago, killing 60 and hurting about 150, approximately 50 in critical condition.

Thursday’s floods attacked during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the area. The authorities have rescued more than 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to security.

These bubbles of clouds are increasingly common in the regions of the Himalayas of India and the areas of northern Pakistan, and experts have said that climate change is a factor that contributes.

Pakistani officials said rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists trapped in areas affected by floods throughout the country.

Many travelers have ignored government warnings on avoiding vulnerable regions in the north and northwest.

Pakistan witnessed his worst Monzón season in 2022. He killed more than 1,700 people and caused estimated damage of $ 40 billion.

• Pakistan
• Flood
• Sudden flood