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03-07-2025
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR: Nearly a week of heavy monsoon rains and flash floods across Pakistan have killed at least 55 people and injured dozens, officials say.
The government announced the death toll on Monday and said the fatalities were caused by several days of abnormally strong downpours.
They included 33 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, 13 in the eastern province of Punjab, seven in Sindh in the south and four in Balochistan in the southwest, the National Disaster Management Authority and provincial emergency officials said.
“We are expecting above-normal rains during the monsoon season, and alerts have been issued to the concerned authorities to take precautionary measures,” Irfan Virk, a deputy director of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, told media.
Virk said forecasters cannot rule out a repeat of extreme weather like the devastating floods in 2022.
Severe rains then inundated a third of the country, killing 1,737 people and causing widespread destruction.
The deaths from the past week include 13 tourists from a family of 17 who were swept away on Friday. The other four family members were rescued from the flooded Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rescuers found 12 bodies from the family and divers continued searching on Monday for the remaining victim, said Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman.
The incident drew widespread condemnation online over what many called a slow response by emergency services.
On Sunday, the National Disaster Management Authority had warned of potential hazards and advised people against crossing rivers and streams.
A couple of days ago, 13 members of one family have died in Pakistan after they were swept away by floodwaters while they waited for rescue.
The death toll from torrential monsoon rains has reached 45 across the country, but the incident with the family in Swat Valley has sparked outrage after videos shared online showed them waving desperately, standing on a boulder in the middle of a raging river as rising waters surged around them.
The family were having a picnic breakfast by the Swat River and the children were in the water taking photos when a flash flood occurred, district administrator Shehzad Mahboob said.
“The river was dry then but within minutes the water surged. By 9.45am, the river had risen dramatically,” Shah Fahad, director general of Rescue 1122, told media.
A relative of the family, who did not give his name, told Reuters TV; “they went to take some selfies. There was not much water at that time. Suddenly floodwaters came and swept away the children. The water current was so strong that it looked like a dyke had been breached.”
Residents said the victims waited more than two hours for official rescue services to arrive.
“They had been screaming and crying for two hours for help,” said a local and eyewitness Shiraz Khan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department confirmed on Friday that “four government officials, including the assistant commissioner of Bahrain, have been suspended” over the failure to respond to the family’s pleas, calling the incident a “tragic and disheartening lapse.”
