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The worst-hit region is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where entire villages have been washed away, said officials
People gather for funeral prayers of cloudburst victims in Salarzai, Pakistan | Image: AP
Flash floods have ravaged parts of Pakistan, killing nearly 340 people within the past few days and leaving hundreds missing, officials and media reports said on Monday.
The scale of destruction deepened further when a helicopter on a relief mission crashed in northwestern Pakistan, killing all five crew members, including two pilots.
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The worst-hit region is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where entire villages have been washed away, said officials, describing scenes of widespread devastation with homes, shops, and vehicles reduced to rubble.
“Entire villages have been wiped out. In Buner’s Chagharzi area, massive destruction has taken place, while the village of Bashoni has completely disappeared from the map,” Ikhtiar Wali Khan, the Prime Minister’s coordinator for KP affairs, told ARY News.
He warned that deaths in Dir alone could top 1,000, adding, “Mass burials are taking place. I have returned from Buner with a heavy heart after witnessing this disaster with my own eyes.”
Rescue efforts remain underway, but hopes are dimming.
More than 150 people are missing in Buner, where 10 to 12 villages have been partially buried by mud and landslides. “The chances of those buried under the debris surviving are very slim,” said Bilal Ahmad Faizi of KP’s rescue agency.
Eyewitnesses recounted harrowing scenes as floodwaters swept away entire communities.
“We saw all the houses, buildings, and vehicles being swept away like pieces of wood. When we looked down from the mountain, our home was gone,” said Suleman Khan, a teacher who lost 25 relatives.
According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), monsoon rains since June 26 have killed 657 people nationwide, including 171 children and 94 women, and injured 929.
Authorities have declared several mountainous districts disaster-hit, as fresh warnings of more torrential rains raise fears of further devastation.
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- Location :
Islamabad, Pakistan
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