The dying toll from heavy monsoon rains which have triggered landslides and flash floods throughout northern Pakistan has risen to a minimum of 164 individuals, in accordance with the catastrophe authority.
Many of the deaths, 150, have been recorded within the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, together with 78 individuals who died within the flood-hit Buner district, the Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority mentioned on Friday.
Later, a helicopter on a rescue mission within the flood-hit province crashed because of the unhealthy climate, killing the 5 crew members, the federal government mentioned.
Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder mentioned the helicopter was a army plane.
“This was a Pakistani army helicopter that was concerned in a rescue operation. Helicopters are getting used to assist individuals in areas which can be arduous to entry,” he mentioned.
A whole bunch evacuated
Dozens of individuals have been injured because the deluge destroyed houses in villages in Buner, the place authorities declared a state of emergency on Friday.
Rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded vacationers from the mountainous Mansehra district, which was hit by landslides on Thursday. Not less than 35 individuals have been reported lacking in these areas, in accordance with native officers.
9 extra individuals have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir whereas 5 died within the northern Gilgit-Baltistan area, authorities mentioned.
The Meteorological Division issued a heavy rain alert for the northwest, urging individuals to keep away from “pointless publicity to susceptible areas”.
Floods in India-administered Kashmir
The annual monsoon season brings South Asia 70 to 80 % of its annual rainfall, which is significant for agriculture and meals safety but in addition brings destruction.
Landslides and flash floods are frequent through the season, which normally begins in June and eases by the tip of September.
In India-administered Kashmir, rescuers continued to seek for survivors beneath boulders and particles on Friday, a day after sudden floods triggered by heavy rains killed a minimum of 60 individuals and left 200 lacking.
Gushing mudslides and floodwaters inundated the village of Chasoti on Thursday, washing away pilgrims who had gathered for lunch earlier than trekking up a hill to a well-liked non secular website within the second such catastrophe within the Himalayas in a bit of greater than per week.
The Himalayas are vulnerable to floods and landslides, however some scientists mentioned the depth and frequency of those occasions are rising as a consequence of local weather change.
