Online Desk: Pakistani rescuers on Sunday pulled apart homes buried by massive boulders as they searched for survivors of flash floods that killed at least 344 people and left more than 150 missing.
Since Thursday, torrential rains across the country have caused flooding, rising waters and landslides that have swept away entire villages and left many residents trapped in the rubble.
Most of the deaths, 317, were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where monsoon rains that are only expected to intensify in the days ahead drove flooding and landslides that collapsed houses.
More than 150 people are missing in hardest-hit Buner district, where at least 208 people were killed and “10 to 12 entire villages” were partially buried, officials told AFP.
“They could be trapped under the rubble of their homes or swept away by floodwaters,” said Asfandyar Khattak, head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority.
“Separately, in Shangla district, dozens of people are also reported missing,” Khattak added.
“There is no electricity or mobile signal in Buner, as power lines and mobile towers were damaged,” he added.
The spokesman for the province’s rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were involved across nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts.
“The operation to rescue people trapped under debris is ongoing,” said Bilal Ahmad Faizi.
“The chances of those buried under the debris surviving are very slim,” he added.
AFP journalists in Buner saw half-buried vehicles and belongings lying strewn in the sludge, with mud covering houses and shops.
The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.
On Saturday, hundreds gathered for mass funerals, where bodies wrapped in blood-stained white shawls were laid out on the village ground.
Fallen trees and straw debris were scattered across nearby fields, while residents shovelled mud out of their homes.
Pakistan’s meteorological department has forecast “torrential rains” with monsoon activity “likely to intensify” from Sunday onward.
The monsoon season brings South Asia about three-quarters of its annual rainfall, vital for agriculture and food security, but also brings destruction.
