BUNER, Pakistan: Rain on Monday (Aug 18) halted search and rescue operations in northern Pakistan after flash floods that have killed nearly 350 people with around 200 still missing, officials said.
Torrential rains across the country since Thursday 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 – more than 320 – were reported in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the provincial disaster agency, which warned of new flash floods “till Thursday”.
Volunteers had been assisting hundreds of rescue workers in their race against time to find possible survivors and retrieve bodies as fresh rains started lashing the province.
“This morning, fresh rains forced a halt to relief operations,” said Nisar Ahmad, 31, a volunteer in worst-hit Buner district, where “12 villages have been completely wiped out and 219 bodies have been recovered”.
“Dozens of bodies are still buried under the mud and rocks, which can only be recovered with heavy machinery. However, the makeshift tracks built to access the area have once again been destroyed by the new rains,” he added.
Around 200 people are still missing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local authorities.
“WE FEEL SCARED”
Many people fled to seek shelter under damaged infrastructure and in the mountains in Buner, an area with difficult terrain.
“Even if it rains a little now, we feel scared because there was light rain that day. And then the unsuspecting people were swept away by the storm,” said Buner resident Ghulam Hussain, 35.
“Children and women are running and screaming up the mountains to escape,” Hazrat Ullah, 18, told AFP.
Source: CNA
