Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed more than 540 people since June 26.
Flooding in northwest Pakistan has killed more than 220 people over the last 48 hours, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides.
Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed more than 540 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
One resident told AFP that the flash floods felt like „the end of the world“ as the ground shook with the force of the water.
„I heard a loud noise as if the mountain was sliding. I rushed outside and saw the entire area shaking, like it was the end of the world“, said Azizullah.
„The ground was trembling due to the force of the water, and it felt like death was staring me in the face.“
Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away.
First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner.
Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes.
