ISLAMABAD: The death toll from this week’s torrential rains and flooding in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has risen to 323 since Aug. 15, the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Sunday, as federal authorities forecast more rains over the next 24 hours.
The cumulative death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan has surged to 657 since late June, when the monsoon rains first began in the country, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Apart from KP, 164 fatalities have been reported in Punjab, 32 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 28 in Sindh, 20 in Balochistan, 15 in Azad Kashmir and eight in the federal capital of Islamabad.
Raging hill torrents flattened several homes and swept away dozens of people in KP’s Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram districts on Friday. Officials said several bodies were found on Sunday in the worst-hit Buner district.
“So far, 323 people have died and 156 people have been injured in various accidents due to rains and flash floods in the province,” the KP PDMA said on Sunday night.
