Sudden floods in India and Pakistan kill more than 280

Peshawar, Pakistan (AP) – Sudden floods triggered by torrential rains killed more than 280 people In India And Pakistan And left dozens of other disappeared people, officials said on Friday, while rescuers put some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts of neighboring countries.

The floods started a day earlier in cashmere under Indian control and spread to the north and northwest in Pakistan, triggered by sudden and intense showers in small areas. Subsequent floods and landslides injured dozens of people and forced the evacuation and rescue of thousands of others, especially in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

These cloud explosions are increasingly common in India Himalayan regions And Northern Pakistan areasAnd the experts said climate change is a contributing factor.

The leaders of the two countries offered their condolences to the families of the victims and provided them with rapid relief.

Dozens disappeared in the Himalayan village remote

In Kashmir controlled by IndiaThe rescuers looked for who disappeared in the Himalayan village of chositi after the sudden floods one day earlier at least 60 people who died and at least 80 missing, officials said.

At least 300 people were saved Thursday following a powerful explosion of clouds which sparked floods and landslides, but the operation was interrupted during the night. Officials said many people who have disappeared would have been swept away and that the number of missing could increase.

Resident Harvinder Singh said he joined rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped recover 33 bodies from the mud.

At least 50 seriously injured people were treated in hospitals, many of which have been saved from a stream filled with mud and debris.

Chositi, in the Kishtwar district of Kashmir, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the road from an annual Hindu pilgrimage to an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet). The officials said that the pilgrimage, which started on July 25 and was to end on September 5, was suspended.

Devastating floods have swept the main community cuisine for pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorcycles. More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or swept away many houses grouped into the buttresses, officials said.

Sneha, who gave only one name, said that her husband and a daughter had been swept away. The two took meals in community cuisine while she and her son were nearby. The family had come for the pilgrimage, she said.

The authorities erected makeshift bridges on Friday to help the pilgrims blocked to cross a muddy water channel and used dozens of earthworks to move rocks, uprooted trees, electric posts and other debris. Nearly 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated, officials said.

Photos and videos on social networks have shown household items scattered alongside vehicles and damaged houses in the village.

The Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric energy projects, which experts have long warned a threat to the fragile ecosystem of the region.

More heavy rains and floods have been planned for the region.

Hundreds of tourists trap

Pold by floods in Pakistan

In north and northwest Pakistan, sudden floods killed at least 243 people, including 157 who died on Friday in the Buner district, in northwestern Pakistan.

Mohammad Suhail told the Associated Press that dozens of people were still missing and that rescue operations were underway.

He said that 78 bodies were found at noon on Friday, and that 79 others had been removed from the rubble of the collapsed and flooded villages later.

“The number of deaths can increase because we are still looking for dozens of missing people,” said Suhail.

Dozens were injured while the flood destroyed houses in the villages of Buner, where the authorities declared the state of emergency on Friday. Rescuers supported by boats and helicopters worked to reach blocked residents. The ambulances have transported more than 100 organizations to hospitals, according to a government statement.

Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for the provincial emergency service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that the rescuers worked for hours to save 2,000 tourists trapped by sudden floods and landslides in the Siran valley in the Manshra district and elsewhere on Thursday.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, at an emergency meeting, ordered the disaster management authority to ensure the evacuation of tourists and all those affected by floods.

A helicopter carrying rescue supplies in the northwest region of Bajaur crashed due to bad weather, killing the five people on board, including two pilots, according to a government statement.

The last deaths have the total number of deaths related to the rain at 556 since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

Region struck by several floods in recent weeks

Pakistan Gilgit-Baltistan region Was hit by several floods since July, triggering landslides along the Karakoram motorway, a commercial and key travel route connecting Pakistan and China that tourists use to go to the picturesque North. The region houses picturesque glaciers that provide 75% of Pakistan’s stored water supply.

During the summer, when schools are closed for more than two months, hundreds of thousands of people go to picturesque destinations in north and northwest Pakistan. This year, despite repeated government warnings on landslides and sudden floods, many have still visited popular stations in the areas affected by floods.

The Pakistan disaster management agency has published new alerts for the explosion of the glacial lake in the North, warning travelers to avoid affected areas.

A study published this week by global weather allocation, a network of international scientists, noted that precipitation in Pakistan from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier due to global warming.

In 2022, the worst season of the country’s monsoon on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused around $ 40 billion in damage.

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Khan reported in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pakistan contributors include bringing Ahmed in Islamabad, Anwarullah Khan in Bajur, Abdul Rehman in Gilgit, Rasool Dawar in Peshawar and Ishfaq Hussain in Muzaffarabad.