PESHAWAR: At least nine people drowned and four others were missing in the wake of flash flooding in the Swat river in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the KP Rescue 1122 service said on Friday.
The perennial river originates in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, from where it flows into the Kalam area before forming the spine of the wider Swat valley.
The flash floods resulted from heavy rain, rapidly raising river water to dangerous levels at several locations across the Swat valley, according to the rescue service.
Bilal Faizi, a KP Rescue 1122 spokesman, said rescue teams had so far recovered nine bodies from different areas of Swat as floods continued to ravage parts of the valley.
“Rescuers in Swat have recovered the bodies of nine people who were swept away in the floodwaters,” he told Arab News. “A search operation is still ongoing to locate four other missing individuals.”
Earlier, Faizi had said a total of 16 people had been trapped in the floods, adding that three of them had been rescued.
The development came a day after Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned of heavy rains and flash floods in several parts of the country from June 26 till June 28.
It advised residents in flood-prone areas, particularly near nullahs, low-lying zones and slopes, to remain alert and avoid unnecessary movement, calling on emergency services to ensure readiness for any potential incidents.
“A total of 120 rescue personnel are taking part in the rescue operations [in Swat],” Faizi said.
Pakistan is currently bracing for another extreme monsoon season and ramping up efforts to deal with any potential calamity.
In 2022, deadly floods brought by record monsoon rains and glacial melt killed over 1,700 people and impacted 33 million people in Pakistan. Raging currents swept away homes, vehicles, crops and livestock in damages estimated at $30 billion.
