Rescue efforts ongoing in Pakistan as death toll from flash floods rises to almost 400

Rescue efforts were ongoing in Pakistan on Tuesday, as the death toll from last week’s flash floods rose to almost 400, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

Torrential rain began on Friday and devastated the country’s northwestern region. Flooding and landslides destroyed villages and trapped many people under the rubble.

Over 150 people were still missing in the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, according to local authorities.

Rescue and relief work resumed on Tuesday after facing delays due to fresh rain. Authorities said they had restored 70% of electricity and reopened damaged roads to facilitate recovery efforts.

Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif said military doctors are treating survivors and engineers are repairing damaged infrastructure. Troops using helicopters have also delivered food and supplies to remote villages cut off by floods and landslides.

Higher-than-normal monsoon rains triggered floods that killed more than 700 people across Pakistan since 26 June. Climate change has intensified this episode of heavy rain, according to a study by World Weather Attribution published on 6 August.

Last week’s flooding in Buner was among the worst since the rains began. Search teams aided by army sniffer dogs are still combing the district for the roughly 150 missing people, rescue official Mohammad Suhail said.

Local officials also warned that more rain would continue until the weekend.

Buner residents accused authorities of failing to issue timely evacuation warnings, and community elders said no alerts were broadcast from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional warning system in remote areas. Officials said the cloudburst struck so suddenly that warnings could not be delivered.

Authorities have warned of a possible repeat of Pakistan’s catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed nearly 1,700 people and were most likely made worse by climate change.