Hundreds killed within days of rain -related incidents

Nestled among the lush green mountains to the north of Pakistan and with a river that was flowing quietly through its center, Bishnoy was a beautiful village until recently.

But she was raining hard on Friday, August 15, and when the villagers woke up early and went to work, they did not know how quickly things were changing.

According to the locals, a sudden water of water appeared through Bishni, “wearing huge rocks with them and crushing buildings on its way, destroying the whole village.”

When the BBC URDU visits afterwards, the area was littered with large stones, concrete blocks and uprooted trees. Without heavy machines, rescue workers and locals were busy clearing debris using small instruments.

“There is a house under every stone. People are trying to look under these rocks to see if they can find someone,” explained local Israr Khan. “The houses are buried underground.”

In the wider province of Hiber Pahtunva, at least 314 people were killed and 156 were injured due to rains and lightning floods that began between Thursday and Friday night.

Boker District, where Bishno is located, is the worst affected, with 217 casualties, according to the provincial disaster management organ (PDMA).

Another local said many people were killed in a house where wedding preparations were underway. Others told us that there were a total of 80 to 90 households in Bisho, most of which participated in agriculture.

Approximately 50% of the houses are completely destroyed during the flood. The rest are no longer inhabited.

The monsoon rains between June and September deliver about three quarters of the annual rainfall in South Asia. The landslides and floods are common and 650 people have already died during this year’s season.

In Pakistan, at least 507 people were killed and more than 700 were injured in rain-related incidents since the monsoon began at the end of June, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Punjab and parts of Islamabad are among the areas that have been battered by heavy outputs and lightning floods so far this year. But neither were affected strongly than the mountain north of Pakistan, Hiber Pahtunva’s home and one of the most loyal regions in the region.

Global warming causes these glaciers to quickly thin and withdraw, in turn make debris such as rocks, soil and other materials, more vulnerable to disposal. And while the exact cause of the last floods and landslides is yet to be determined, glaciologists say that the ice melt is an contributing factor.

Government forecasts have warned that heavy rainfall is expected by August 21 by August 21 in the northwest, where several areas have been declared disaster zones.

In the valley of the wedding, less than 100 km from Bunner, the school principal saved nearly 900 flood students.

“It was exactly 09:00, when the last look at the stream and I felt that I would burst my shores due to continuing rains,” said the 59 -year -old Side Ahmad to Anadolu.

Ahmad ordered an immediate evacuation and within 15 minutes all teachers and children had left – moments before the water waters jumped through the school, washing half of the building, its border walls and the playground.

Sarvar Khan, a local advisor, said “this timely action by the director saved 900 lives.”

Others were not so lucky. Abdul Salam, who lives in Punjab, told the BBC Urdu for the moment he learned that his wife, two daughters and a son, may have been caught in the floods of the wedding valley.

“I started dialing my cell phone number like crazy, but I couldn’t contact my wife and children,” he said. All four drowned.

Meanwhile, in Bunner, Asrar Khan said 27 people from his village are still missing.

When asked how disaster unfolded, he took a deep breath.

“Everything happened before my eyes,” he said – and explained that although he and others managed to save some people, “the water was so strong that there was no mercy on anyone.”

The piles lay flattened on both sides of the road of the drive to the Buner Pir Baba bazaar. The trees were uprooted and the vehicles were in ruins – sometimes stuck in mud, sometimes in walls.

Arriving on the market, other details of the destruction were visible.

The intensity of the floods was clear from the fact that the water reached the third floor. Some stores had collapsed. Sugar and women’s clothes were littered in the mud, with vehicles passing over them.

The shops had started working on their own, removing mud and water from their stores.

Bishnoi al-Hydmat and other help agencies were difficult to work with, with goods being distributed among people and creating a medical camp. Rescue and other agencies, along with military officials, were busy with restoration work, while they also arrived heavy machines.

But people from distant areas had also come to the disaster area to help those affected.

At one point, two young men came and sat on a stone, their feet inlaid in mud.

“They look at the house in the front,” another man explained.

The house is not obvious immediately – until, that is, he pointed to the foundations that were once home to 20 family members.

“Eighteen of them are no longer there,” he said. “Some bodies have been found and the search for others continues.”

Two people had survived, he added, but they were unconscious and seemed confused by the situation.

“Their understanding doesn’t work,” he explained. “If someone wants them, he starts to cry.”