PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Rescuers and residents in northern Pakistan on Tuesday resumed search operations for survivors as the death toll from five days of torrential monsoon rain rose to almost 400, with authorities warning that heavy monsoon downpours would continue until the weekend.
Torrential rains across northern Pakistan have caused flash flooding and landslides that have swept away entire villages, leaving many residents trapped in the rubble and scores missing.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said 356 people were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a mountainous province in Pakistan’s northwest bordering Afghanistan, since Thursday evening.
Dozens more were killed in surrounding regions, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, taking the toll in the past five days to almost 400.
Rescuers, including Pakistan Army troops, dug through mud and stone in hard-hit Dalori village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the hope of finding survivors and the bodies of people missing.
Villagers stood watching and praying as the rescuers worked, a day after the search was halted by more heavy rain.
Rescue and relief operations
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps North have continued rescue and relief operations in the rain and flood affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Urban Search and Rescue Team of the Corps of Engineers of Pakistan Army is recovering injured and dead bodies from the debris in different areas of Buner, Shangla, and Swat. Pakistan Army soldiers were busy repairing broken bridges and clearing roads.
The Corps of Engineers troops have opened several communication roads connecting the affected areas.
The Pakistan Army has cleared landslides at three points to reopen the road leading to the village of Gokand.
Using heavy machinery, Army engineers have removed landslides and reopened the road to Aloch Paran.
Urban Search and Rescue teams, along with heavy machinery, are conducting continuous search operations in Besoni and Qadir Nagar.
Despite bad weather, Pakistan Army helicopters are busy in rescue missions, while Army doctors have also set up medical camps in the affected areas where free medicines are being distributed.
Pakistan Army’s one-day ration items are being delivered to the needy, while other essential items like beds and tents are also being provided to the affected families.
Meanwhile, an emergency operation by the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps North is also underway after the torrential rain and landslide in the Topi tehsil of the Swabi district.
On Monday, a powerful cloudburst, accompanied by flash floods and lightning, struck remote mountainous villages in Swabi, killing at least 25 people and injuring 35 others, officials said.
The worst-affected areas include Dalori Bala and Sarkoi Payan in the Gadoon Amazai region, where dozens of homes collapsed under the force of floodwaters.
Deputy Commissioner Swabi, Nasrullah Khan, said, “In Dalori Bala alone, 20 people have died, including women, children, and the elderly. The total death toll in the area has reached 25. At last report, ten bodies and six injured were recovered.”
The rescue and relief operations will continue till all affected people are rescued and shifted to safe places.
National Disaster Management Authority has dispatched two separate consignments of relief goods for Swat and Shangla on Tuesday morning.
The relief supplies included tents, blankets, 7KVA generators, dewatering pumps, ration bags, and medicines.
More rain forecast
Many roads have been damaged, making it hard for rescuers to reach areas damaged by the floods.
Communication also remains difficult, with phone networks hit in flood-affected areas.
Heavy rain also began falling on Tuesday in southern parts of Pakistan that had so far been spared the worst of the monsoon downpours.
The rain was expected to continue until Saturday, and “another spell is to start by the end of the month”, said NDMA chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik.
More than 700 people have been killed in the monsoon rains since June 26, the NDMA said, with close to 1,000 injured. The monsoon is expected to last until mid-September.
On Tuesday, heavy rainfall battered Karachi, disrupting daily life and prompting authorities to declare a rain emergency as monsoon showers intensified across the country.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), light showers that began in Karachi late Monday night turned into heavy downpours by early Tuesday.
The weather department warned of further heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours in Sindh and northern areas of the country, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Murree and Galiyat.
The Met Office also cautioned that urban flooding could occur in low-lying parts of Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar and several towns in Sindh and Balochistan.
It has also been raining in 15 districts in Balochistan province, and the main highway connecting it with Sindh has been blocked for heavy vehicles, said provincial disaster official Muhammad Younis.
Between 40 and 50 houses had been damaged in two districts, he said.
Landslides and flash floods are common during the monsoon season, which typically begins in June and lasts until the end of September.
Pakistan is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is increasingly facing extreme weather events.
Monsoon floods submerged one-third of Pakistan in 2022, resulting in approximately 1,700 deaths.
