Pakistan's Deadly Flood Kills More Than 300 People, Search Operation Continued

Impact of Pakistani flooding/PHOTO via X @zamannx

JAKARTA - Authorities in Pakistan resumed rescue and relief efforts on Monday, where flash floods killed more than 300 people.

Heavy rains that began on Friday last week claimed lives and spread damage in several districts in the north, with most people killed in flash floods, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

In hilly areas, rain causes flash floods and landslides and mud that swept away houses, buildings, vehicles, and goods.

Buner district is the most severely affected, with more than 200 deaths.

Heavy rains in flood-hit areas, including Buner, forced rescue teams to halt relief efforts for several hours on Monday, a local government official Abid Wazir told Reuters.

"Our priority at this time is to clean roads, build bridges, and provide assistance to affected communities," he said on Monday, August 18.

The aid items have been sent to affected areas, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told local Geo News television.

Food, medicine, blankets, evacuation tents, power generators, and water suction pumps are included in aid items.

Buner, three and a half hours from the capital Islamabad, hit by heavy rains, is a rare phenomenon where more than 100 mm (4 inches) rains in an hour in small areas.

In Buner, it rained more than 150 mm in one hour on Friday morning.

Heavy rains are expected to occur across Pakistan until early September, officials said.

"The weather system is currently active in Pakistan and could cause heavy rains to be very heavy over the next 24 hours," disaster management authorities said on Sunday.

Heavy rains and rains this rainy season have killed 657 people across Pakistan since late June.