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Flash floods kill more than 300 in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Flash floods kill more than 300 in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Photo:BBC

The death toll from heavy monsoon floods and landslides in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir continues to rise rapidly, with at least 307 people confirmed dead.

Most of the deaths were recorded by disaster authorities in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-west Pakistan.

At least 74 homes have been damaged, while a rescue helicopter crashed during operations, killing its five crew.

Authorities say nine were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, while another five died in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Government forecasters said heavy rainfall was expected until 21 August in the north-west of the country, where several areas have been declared disaster zones.

In Buner, one survivor told news agency AFP the floods arrived like "doomsday".

The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gadapur, said that the M-17 helicopter crashed due to bad weather while flying to Bajaur, a region bordering Afghanistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has declared a day of mourning.

Monsoon rains between June and September deliver about three-quarters of South Asia's annual rainfall. Landslides and flooding are common, and more than 300 people have died in this year's season.

In July, Punjab, home to nearly half of Pakistan's 255 million people, recorded 73 percent more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than in the entire previous monsoon.

Scientists say that climate change has made weather events more extreme and more frequent.

Source: BBC

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