More than 300 people have been killed by flash flooding across Pakistan and India-controlled Kashmir, local authorities say.
Rescuers began a third day of scouring the mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northwestern Pakistan, while others looked for missing people in the Kishtwar district of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Mass funerals were held in Buner, one of the worst-hit areas, where 184 people were reported dead by local officials. Some 93 bodies had been recovered there by Saturday, with many buildings destroyed and crops ruined.
A witness described fast-flowing water sending boulders and “tons of rocks” crashing through residential areas.
The villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura were the worst impacted and where most emergency responders were deployed.
In Shangla, a collapsed roof killed 34 people, the province’s chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah said.
Across the border in Indian Kashmir, at least 60 people are believed dead and 150 injured.
In Pakistan, medical camps have been set up and shelters established for families who have lost their homes.
Rescuers have evacuated more than 1,300 tourists from the mountains in Mansehra district, Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman, said.
Rescue helicopter crashes
On Friday, a helicopter carrying supplies to the flood-hit northwestern region of Bajaur crashed during bad weather, killing all five people on board.
Machinery is being deployed to clear and repair roads, while civilian and military teams continue with rescue operations, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar said.
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“Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones, to those who are injured, and many whose homes and livelihoods have been swept away,” Mr Dar said in a social media statement.
Heavy rain and cloud bursts first triggered the flash floods on Thursday amid an annual Hindu pilgrimage.
Initially, 300 people had to be rescued, with a further 4,000 pilgrims taken to safety.
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The region has suffered multiple floods since July.
A study released this week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall in Pakistan between 24 June to 23 July was 10% to 15% heavier because of global warming.
