BULER, PAKISTAN (AP) – Floods in a Pakistani district of the North West killed at least 220 people, announced on Saturday, while the rescuers pulled 63 additional bodies during the night of houses flattened by Sudden floods And the landslides, with forecasts of more rain in the coming days.
An eyewitness, which escaped the deluge in Biner, described when seeing flood waters carrying hundreds of rocks and “tons of rocks” crash.
Hundreds of rescuers are still looking for survivors in Buner, one of the many places in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where torrential rains and clouds Embarked massive floods on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, spokesperson for emergency services. Dozens of houses have been swept away.
The first speakers tried to recover the bodies of the most affected villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the deaths were, said Kashif Qayyum, deputy commissioner in Buner.
Local policeman Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the floods, said that flood waters carrying hundreds of rocks hit and flattened houses in a few minutes.
“A stream near the village of Pir Baba in Buner swelled without warning.
“Our police station was also swept away and if we had not climbed on higher ground, we would not have survived.”
The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicted torrential rains in the coming days and warned that the monsoon activity was likely to intensify from Sunday, including in the North and North West.
Precipitation of the monsoon greater than normal
The rescuers said they had seen large expanses from the village of Pir Baba destroyed, destroyed houses and giant rocks filling the streets while the water was starting to retreat.
“It was not only flood waters, it was also a flood of rocks, which we saw for the first time our lives,” said Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm.
Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods “came so quickly that many could not leave their homes.”
Most of the victims died before reaching the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, a doctor in Buner. “Many among the dead were children and men, while women were absent in the hills that collect firewood and pasture cattle.”
Pakistani leaders, including the Prime Minister and the President, offered their condolences to the families of the dead and said they were praying for the rapid recovery of the wounded.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said efforts were underway to repair the roads and other damaged infrastructure.
This year Pakistan has received monsoon precipitation over normal this year, which experts are linked to climate change, triggering floods and mud shifts that have killed 541 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
“Sorrow and sadness everywhere”
The mourning people attended mass funeral on Saturday, while the authorities provided tents and food to the people of Buner.
The local Clerc Mufti Fazal had led funeral prayers in several places since Friday morning. “Before yesterday’s floods, the region was animated by life. Now there is sorrow and sorrow everywhere.”
Suleman Khan school teacher lost 25 members of his extended family. He and his brother survived only because they were far from home when the floods hit his village Qadar Nagar.
In Pir Baba, the mourning people gave the bodies covered with their loved ones on wooden frames or pierced them before the burials. In a hospital, paramedical paramedics have placed blocks of ice next to the deceased or comforted the wounded.
According to the province of disaster management, at least 351 people died in rainy incidents this week in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Tourists trapped in areas struck by floods
In cashmere controlled by India, the rescuers traveled the distant village of Chositi in the Kishtwar district on Saturday, looking for dozens of disappeared people after being struck by sudden floods two days ago, killing 60 and injuring about 150, about 50 in critical condition.
Thursday’s floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the region. Authorities have rescued more than 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to security.
These cloud explosions are increasingly common in India Himalayan regions And Northern Pakistan areasAnd the experts said climate change is a contributing factor.
Pakistani officials said that rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourist Trapped in areas affected by floods across the country.
Many travelers have ignored government warnings to avoid vulnerable regions in the north and northwest.
Pakistan witnessed his worst Mousson season in 2022. He killed more than 1,700 people and caused around 40 billion dollars.
___
Khan reported in Peshawar, Pakistan. Associated press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Ishfaq Husain in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and Channi Ananad in Chositi, India, contributed to this report.
