Torrential rains in northwest Pakistan halted rescue and relief operations for several hours on Monday, after flash floods killed more than 300 people since Friday, officials said.
The downpours have devastated several northern districts, triggering flash floods, mudslides, and rockfalls that swept away homes, vehicles, and infrastructure, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
“It was like a doomsday scenario,” said Sahil Khan, a 24-year-old university student in Buner district, the hardest-hit area where more than 200 people have died. “Everybody is scared. Children are scared. They cannot sleep.”
Fresh rain forced rescue teams to temporarily halt operations in Buner before resuming efforts to clear roads and reconnect cut-off areas. “Our priority is now to clear the roads, set up bridges and bring relief to the affected people,” regional official Abid Wazir told Reuters.
Rescuers, supported by the army and local authorities, used heavy machinery to remove mud, fallen trees, and power lines from blocked roads. Relief packages—including food, medicine, blankets, tents, generators, and water pumps—have been dispatched, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said. Officials said Buner was struck by a rare cloudburst, with more than 150 mm of rain falling within an hour on Friday morning.
The NDMA warned that the weather system remained active and could unleash further heavy to very heavy rainfall across Pakistan until early September. Nationwide, monsoon-related rains and flooding have killed at least 657 people since late June, the authority said.
REUTERS/S.S