More than 200 have disappeared in one area, says official

More than 200 people remain missing in an area of northwestern Pakistan as a result of devastating floods of monsooni and landslides, an employee said.

Lightning floods have killed more than 300 people in Pakistan and administered by Pakistan Kashmir in recent days, with most of the deaths being registered in the Hiber Pahtunva mountain province.

A local employee in the worst affected Buer neighborhood told the BBC that at least 209 people were still gone there, but fears that its number may increase.

The rescue crews buried eight unidentified bodies as there were no family members found alive to claim them, said Jahangir Khan, a spokesman for Bunner’s deputy commissioner.

Some relatives are also unable to claim that the bodies of their relatives are badly damaged, he added.

A spokesman for the provincial rescue told the News Agency AFP that “10 to 12 whole villages” are partially buried.

Asfandyar Khattak, head of the provincial disaster management body, said “dozens” of people are missing from the Shangla neighborhood.

The monsoon rains between June and September deliver about three quarters of the annual rainfall in South Asia.

While landslides and lightning floods are common as a result, scientists say climate change makes these meteorological events more intensive and more frequent.

The torrential rain has also struck India Kashmir, days after At least 60 people were killed there by lightning floods.

Nine were killed in Pakistan, administered Kashmir this week, while five were killed in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, authorities said.

Government forecasts say heavy rainfall is expected until August 21 in the northwest, where several areas have been declared disaster areas.

Pakistan complies with the devastation of this year’s Messon season since June. So far, at least 650 people have been killed this year.

In July, Punjab, a home of almost half of the 255 million people in Pakistan, recorded 73% more rainfall than the previous year and more deaths than throughout the previous season of monsoons.

Northern Pakistan is also one of the most coastal areas in the region, but they quickly become thinner and retreat due to climate change – which means that rocks, soil and other debris can be discarded.

Muten rains can additionally destabilize mountainous landslides, which sometimes block the rivers.

While the exact cause of the last floods and landslides is yet to be determined, glaciologists say the ice melt is an contributing factor.