At least 164 people have been reported dead and 35 others missing in the last 24 hours in heavy monsoon floods and landslides in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Most of the deaths, 150, were recorded in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan, including 78 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Later, a helicopter on a rescue mission in the flood-hit province crashed due to the bad weather, killing the five crew members.
Commenting on the helicopter crash, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister, Ali-Amin Gandapur, confirmed that the M-17 aircraft went down due to poor weather conditions while en route to Bajaur, a region bordering Afghanistan.
Government forecasters said heavy rainfall was expected until August 21 in the northwest of the country, where several areas have been declared disaster zones.
Monsoon rains, which typically fall between June and September, account for around 75% of South Asia’s annual rainfall.
Landslides and flooding are common during this season, and more than 300 people have died across the region so far this year.
In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 255 million people, recorded 73% more rainfall than the previous year and experienced more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.
Scientists say that climate change has made weather events more extreme and more frequent.
