Flash floods and torrential rains have wreaked devastation across northern Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of more than 200 people in the past 24 hours.
Up to 180 deaths were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where one resident called the catastrophe a “doomsday.”
Nearly nine individuals lost their lives in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, along with five in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the National Disaster Management Authority stated.
The maximum individuals were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, with the dead including 17 children and 19 women, leaving 28 others injured.
Another five individuals were killed, including two pilots, when a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government helicopter crashed due to unfavourable weather conditions, the province's chief minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, stated.
The provincial government has declared an emergency in several areas, including Mansehra, Buner, Bajaur, and Battagram, after devastating rains killed over 500 individuals, including 150 children.
In Bajaur, crowds gathered around excavators to hold funeral prayers for the deceased individuals.
Authorities have issued rainstorm alerts, warning of aggravating conditions. In Indian-administered Kashmir, floods took the lives of at least 60.
Notably, researchers associated Pakistan’s frequent extreme weather to climate change. Punjab experienced a 73% increase in downpour than 2024, while the 2022 monsoon claimed 1,700 lives.
