Flash floods devastate Buner as KP death toll crosses 330

PESHAWAR: “Neither my home survived, nor my fields or my family,” said a survivor from Beshonrai village in Pir Baba Malikpur, Buner, where 48 of his relatives perished after two days of heavy rains and flash floods.

He said six women and several children were among the dead, while 13 bodies had so far been recovered.

In nearby Chagharzai, more than two dozen members of another family were killed after torrential rains triggered a cloudburst.

The deluge battered the remote mountainous districts of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with cloudbursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and landslides in what officials described as the deadliest downpour of this year’s monsoon season.

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According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), nine northern districts of KP have reported over 330 deaths from flash floods and torrential rains including 278 men, 15 women, and 13 children. Buner’s Pir Baba village alone has accounted for nearly 200 fatalities.

Reuters quoted Zahid Hussain, 62, a resident of Beshonrai village, as saying that more than 60 people had died in his village and more than 20 remained missing. He recalled telling his family to flee when water in a nearby stream began rising rapidly.

Also read: Over 250 dead as floods devastate parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

“The floodwater washed away our house in front of our eyes. Within minutes, we were made homeless,” he said from a hospital where he was caring for his injured nephew.

The PDMA said 23 people were injured, including 17 men, four women and two children, while 74 houses were damaged. The authority has declared emergency in Buner, Swat, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla, Battagram, and Upper and Lower Dir until August 31.

So far, more than 2,000 people have been rescued, according to officials.

KP’s Finance Adviser Mazmil Aslam said that under Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s directives, a total of Rs3 billion had been released for relief efforts: Rs1.56 billion for repairing roads, bridges and highways, Rs1 billion for the Relief Department, and Rs100 million each for deputy commissioners of affected districts.

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Chief Minister Gandapur and Inspector General Frontier Corps North Rao Imran Surtaj visited Buner on Saturday to review rescue and relief operations.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi warned that the death toll was expected to rise as more bodies were pulled from debris.

Provincial Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said medical camps were being set up in flood-hit areas, while arrangements were being made to provide food to displaced families.

According to Reuters, Pakistan’s chief meteorologist Zaheer Babar said the country was witnessing an increase in the frequency and destructiveness of extreme weather events. He said flash floods in low-lying areas often came without warning because rainfall in the mountains upstream was not immediately visible. He said that climate change was a key factor, compounded by the construction of homes along waterways and the dumping of garbage that blocked natural drainage channels.