Flash Floods in Northern Pakistan Kill Over 320 as Rescuers Battle Debris

ISLAMABAD — More than 320 people have died in northern Pakistan after relentless monsoon rains triggered flash floods and landslides, officials said on Saturday, as rescuers struggled to reach remote mountain communities cut off by washed-out roads.

Authorities confirmed that at least 307 of the victims were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where swollen rivers and collapsing houses caused the highest toll. Women and children were among the dead, while more than 20 others were injured.

Rescue efforts hampered

Provincial officials said some 2,000 emergency workers were deployed across nine districts but their work was slowed by continued downpours, mudslides, and blocked roads.

“Transporting machinery and ambulances has become almost impossible in many areas,” said Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesperson for the provincial rescue service. “Our teams are walking long distances to reach cut-off villages. Survivors are reluctant to leave because many of their loved ones remain buried under the debris.”

The government declared several districts — including Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, and Battagram — as disaster zones. Pakistan’s meteorological department warned that heavy rainfall would likely continue in the northwest for hours, urging residents to remain cautious.

Elsewhere, nine deaths were reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and five more in Gilgit-Baltistan. A separate helicopter crash during a relief mission killed five people, including two pilots, officials said.

“Like the end of the world”

Residents in the affected areas described terrifying scenes. In Buner district, Azizullah, a local villager, said the floods struck without warning. “I heard a roar like the mountain itself was sliding. The ground was trembling, the water was everywhere — I thought it was doomsday,” he said.

In Bajaur, mourners gathered near an excavator digging through mud-soaked hillsides, where families searched through rubble for missing relatives. Funerals began even as rains continued to fall.

An intensifying monsoon

Pakistan’s national disaster agency warned that this year’s monsoon began earlier than usual and is expected to last longer. “The next two weeks could bring even heavier rainfall,” said agency official Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah.

The seasonal rains, which provide much of South Asia’s water supply, also bring devastation each year. More than 600 people have died in Pakistan since the start of this monsoon season alone. Punjab province, home to nearly half the population, recorded 73 percent more rainfall in July than last year.

Pakistan is considered one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. In 2022, catastrophic floods submerged one-third of the nation, killing nearly 1,700 people and displacing millions.

In Buner, schoolteacher Saifullah Khan said grief overwhelmed his community. “We don’t yet know who among us has survived. I helped carry out the bodies of children I once taught. It feels like nature has put us through a trial we cannot understand,” he said.