At least six members of a family were feared dead after a massive landslide buried their home in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) Muzaffarabad district on Thursday, while torrential rains claimed the lives of two more women in Bagh and Sudhnoti districts, officials said.
Monsoon rains, which fall across the region from June to September every year, continue to lash many parts of the country. Starting in late June, Monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across the country in the past month by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas.
At least 313 people, including 142 children, have died and 740 others have been injured in flash floods and torrential rains that have battered several parts of Pakistan since late June, according to updated daily data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The incident occurred in Nariyah Behak, part of Sarli Sacha village northwest of Muzaffarabad, where a cloudburst sent a wall of water surging down Jhugiyan Nullah, smashing into houses perched on the highland pastures where villagers live in summer with their livestock.
“Two houses were swept away by the flood,” Saeed Qureshi, senior director at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), told media.com.
“Six members of one family are missing — Muhammad Naveed, his wife Asiya Bibi, and their four children, all under 10 years of age, and there are no chances of their survival,” he added.
The downpour also triggered flash floods and landslides across much of AJK, washing away small bridges, cutting off roads, and damaging dozens of houses.
In a nearby home, 60-year-old Jamdali narrowly escaped but suffered critical injuries.
Raja Manzoor Hussain, a local councillor in Jhing village, said the site was in difficult terrain.
“The incident happened around 2pm, but we only got the news after 3:30pm,” he said. “There’s no telecom service there, and the main track was cut off, so the messenger had to take an extra two-kilometre detour on foot.
“Losses will be much higher than what we know right now — only tomorrow will reveal the true scale,” he told media.com by telephone.
In the same area, a raging flood in Machhiara Nullah destroyed a major bridge at Batdara, severing the only ground connection for four villages and bringing daily life to a standstill.
In Sudhnoti district, 26-year-old Misbah Ashfaq was swept away by a stream and killed, while her younger sister was injured.
“Local residents managed to recover the body shortly afterwards,” Deputy Commissioner Mumtaz Kazmi told media.com, adding that 34 houses in his district had been partially or completely damaged.
In the Bagh district, 57-year-old Akhtar Begum was killed when her home collapsed in Jia Na Bun village. Heavy rains also destroyed part of a road and a service station.
A vehicle carrying four tourists from Jaranwala was trapped in floodwaters but rescued safely, according to Deputy Commissioner Sadaqat Adalat.
Meanwhile, the northeastern Neelum Valley faced major disruptions.
Deputy District Disaster Management Officer Akhtar Ayoub informed media.com that dozens of tourists stranded along Ratti Gali Nullah had been safely transported to Dawarian Kallas.
“While a stranded vehicle was recovered from the floodwaters, a motorcycle was swept away by Ratti Galli Nullah,” he said.
More than 600 tourists camping at the lake’s base had been advised by the administration to remain in place, as the link road had been damaged by ongoing rains and flooding.
AJK Information Minister Pir Mazhar Saeed, who was also present at the site, issued a video message saying that all camp owners had agreed not to charge tourists for meals and accommodation that night.
“This is the beauty of Neelum Valley — it’s what draws tourists here,” he remarked, adding that all visitors would be safely evacuated on Friday when weather conditions were expected to improve.
Ayoub said that two connecting bridges over Lawat Nullah in the Valley’s upper belt had also been washed away.
“In Kundal Shahi, the swollen Jagran Nullah tore away a well-known bridge near a popular waterfall, the same location where a suspension bridge collapsed in 2018, killing several tourists,” he said.
Further upstream, the floodwaters also swept away another bridge as well as a store, four containers and some equipment related to the Jagran-II hydropower project.
A scenic riverside restaurant and at least three houses in the area were swept away, with further losses still being assessed.
In Jhelum Valley, a cloudburst over Palhot along the Bani Hafiz Road unleashed a flash flood that damaged part of the road and left dozens of vehicles stranded. In Nardajiyan village, a raging torrent swept away six shops, Qureshi said.
In Muzaffarabad, the SDMA reported in a statement that the Neelum River was rising rapidly, with outflow from Nauseri Dam reaching 1,000 cubic metres per second — an unusually high volume — and climbing.
Authorities issued a flood warning and plan to relocate vulnerable riverside families to Jinnah Pilot High School in Lower Plate and Ali Akbar Awan High School in Upper Chhattar.
The Muzaffarabad–Mansehra highway remained blocked at Lohar Gali due to a landslide, while other connecting roads were open but littered with debris.
Officials have urged residents and travellers to exercise extreme caution until conditions improve.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Tuesday forecast widespread rain, wind, and thundershowers in most parts of the country in the coming days, with monsoon activity expected to intensify from August 17.
In its latest weather advisory, the Met Office said monsoon currents from the Arabian Sea were continuously penetrating the upper parts of Pakistan, while moist currents from the Bay of Bengal were likely to strengthen midweek.
Under these conditions, rain-wind/thundershower with scattered heavy falls was expected in Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, upper Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan from Aug 14-17.
Last month, a cloudburst-triggered flash flood caused widespread damage in AJK, damaging around two dozen houses and six shops and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
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