BUNER, Pakistan — Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed a minimum of 220 individuals, officers stated Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 extra our bodies in a single day from properties flattened by flash floods and landslides.
One eyewitness, who escaped the deluges in Buner, described seeing floodwaters carrying tons of of boulders and “tons of rocks” crashing down.
Pakistan has obtained higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this 12 months, which consultants hyperlink to local weather change, triggering floods and mudslides which have killed some 541 individuals since June 26, in line with the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority.
A whole lot of rescue staff are nonetheless trying to find survivors in Buner, one among a number of locations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province the place torrential rains and cloudbursts brought on huge flooding on Friday, stated Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency providers. Dozens of properties had been swept away.
First responders have been attempting to recuperate our bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, the place many of the fatalities had been, stated Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner.
Native police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, stated floodwaters carrying tons of of boulders struck and flattened properties inside minutes.
“A stream close to Pir Baba village in Buner swelled with out warning. At first, we thought it was a standard flash flood, however when tons of rocks got here crashing down with the water, 60 to 70 homes had been swept away in moments,” Khan informed The Related Press, including that many our bodies had been left mutilated.
“Our police station was washed away too and if we hadn’t climbed to increased floor, we might not have survived.”
Rescue staff transport the physique of a sufferer of flash flooding after recovering it from the rubble of a broken home in Buner district, Pakistan, August 16, 2025. (AP/Muhammad Sajjad)
Rescuers stated they noticed giant swathes of Pir Baba village destroyed, wrecked properties, and big rocks filling the streets because the water began to recede.
“It was not simply the floodwater, it was a flood of boulders as nicely, which we noticed for the primary time in our lives,” stated Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a damaged arm.
Mohammad Khan, 53, stated the floods “got here so quick that many couldn’t depart their properties.”
Most victims died earlier than reaching the hospital, stated Mohammad Tariq, a health care provider in Buner. “Many among the many useless had been youngsters and males, whereas girls had been away within the hills accumulating firewood and grazing cattle,” he stated.
Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, whereas authorities equipped tents and meals objects to flood-affected individuals in Buner.
Native cleric Mufti Fazal stated he led funeral prayers at a number of places since Friday morning. “Earlier than yesterday’s floods, the world was bustling with life. Now, there may be grief and sorrow in every single place.”
Schoolteacher Suleman Khan misplaced 25 members of his prolonged household, saying he and his brother survived solely as a result of they had been away from dwelling when the floods hit his village Qadar Nagar.
In response to the provincial catastrophe administration authority, a minimum of 351 individuals have died in rain-related incidents this week throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern area of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Native residents search by means of an space lined with mud and particles, after flash flooding on the outskirts of Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan’s northwest, August 16, 2025. (AP Photograph/Muhammad Sajjad)
Practically 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) away in Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers scoured the distant village of Chositi within the district of Kishtwar on Saturday, in search of dozens of lacking individuals after it was hit by flash floods two days in the past, killing 60 and injuring some 150, about 50 in important situation.
Thursday’s floods struck throughout an annual Hindu pilgrimage within the space. Authorities have rescued over 300 individuals, whereas some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to security.
Such cloudbursts are more and more widespread in India’s Himalayan areas and Pakistan’s northern areas, and consultants have stated local weather change is a contributing issue.
Pakistani officers stated rescuers since Thursday have evacuated greater than 3,500 vacationers trapped in flood-hit areas throughout the nation.
Many vacationers have ignored authorities warnings about avoiding weak areas within the north and northwest.
Pakistan witnessed its worst-ever monsoon season in 2022. It killed greater than 1,700 individuals and brought on an estimated $40 billion in injury.
