August 19, 2025 | 10:30 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Authorities in Pakistan continued their rescue and relief work, having faced delays on Monday due to fresh rain, according to local officials.
The country's northwest is continuing to deal with the aftermath of flash floods that killed over 300 people and left more than 200 unaccounted for.
Heavy rains began on Friday and most of the deaths have been reported in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the provincial disaster agency, which warned of new flash floods until Thursday.
Hundreds still missing after Pakistan flash floods
Volunteers had been assisting hundreds of rescue workers in their race against time to find possible survivors and retrieve bodies as rain started lashing the province.
"This morning fresh rains forced a halt to relief operations," said Nisar Ahmad, 31, a volunteer in the worst-hit Buner district, where "12 villages have been completely wiped out and 219 bodies have been recovered."
Buner, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital, Islamabad, was hit by a cloudburst, a rare phenomenon in which more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain falls within an hour in a small area.
According to officials, in Buner there was more than 150 millimeters of rain within an hour on Friday morning.
"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," Ahmad added.
Around 200 people are still missing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local authorities.
Relief goods sent to worst-hit areas
Relief goods have been sent to the affected areas, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told local Geo News television.
Food, medicine, blankets, camps, electric generators and pumps are included in the relief goods, the disaster management authority said in a statement.
Monsoon season worse than expected
The monsoon season brings around three-quarters of South Asia's annual rainfall, which is vital for agriculture and food security but can also cause widespread destruction.
According to the National Disaster Agency, the intensity of this year's monsoon in Pakistan is about 50% to 60% higher than last year.
Landslides and flash floods are common during the monsoon season. The heavy rains that have battered Pakistan since June this year have claimed the lives of more than 650 people, with over 920 injured.
Pakistan is among the world's most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and is increasingly facing extreme weather events.
In 2022, monsoon floods submerged one-third of the country and resulted in approximately 1,700 deaths.
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