Sudden floods triggered by heavy rains have killed more than 400 people across parts of Pakistan, India-administered Kashmir and Nepal, authorities have said, with scores of people still missing.
In northwestern Pakistan, at least 321 people were killed in the space of 48 hours, local authorities reported Saturday, with more than ten villages in the Buner region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province devastated by flash flooding.
Washed out roads and landslides have prevented emergency workers from accessing the affected communities in Buner, where dozens more people are feared to be buried under rubble, according to Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the emergency response agency Rescue 122.
“Over 120 bodies have been recovered from this area alone so far. Just a few days ago, there was a vibrant, living community here. Now, there’s nothing but heaps of large rocks and debris,” Faizi told CNN.
Separately, five crew members were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after a helicopter crashed during relief efforts, according to a local government official.
In India-administered Kashmir, at least 60 people died and more than 200 were missing in the town of Chashoti on Friday, a popular pilgrimage destination for Hindu tourists, Reuters reported.
At least 41 people died in Nepal, with another 121 left injured, Reuters reported, citing the country’s disaster management authority.
“When the rain intensified, it wasn’t long before I felt as if an earthquake had struck — the whole ground was shaking,” said Farhad Ali, a student living in Salarzai, in hard-hit northern Pakistan.
“In the pouring rain, my entire family ran outside, and we saw a torrent of mud and massive boulders rushing through the stream near our house. It felt like doomsday had arrived, with scenes straight out of the end of the world.”
