At least 15 deaths have been confirmed in the flash floods that inundated Arsoon area. Bodies of nineteen victims who went missing after being swept away in Chitral flooding Sunday have been recovered while search is underway for the remaining victims
Rescue services have recovered five more bodies.
At least 31 people were swept away on Sunday as an aftermath of heavy rains and flash floods that inundated Arsoon, a village near the Afghan border.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said that 13 people are still missing.
Pak Army, Chitral Scouts, police and local volunteers are busy in the rescue operation.
The flash floods damaged a mosque and washed away several houses in the area. According to DC Chitral control room, 37 houses were completely destroyed in Chitral flash floods, while 48 houses have been partially damaged.
Relief supplies are being provided to those affected by the flood, which include tents, blankets, and food, the DC Chitral control room stated.
The heavy monsoon rains began late Saturday and were concentrated mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change.
The worst hit district was Chitral where the flood waters killed more than 40 people in the village of Ursoon near the Afghan border, which is home to some 100 families.
Eighty-two homes in the village were affected by the waters, a rescue services statement said, with some of them swept away, along with a mosque and an army post.
“Sixteen of the dead were offering prayers in the mosque when it was swept away by the flood,” said Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority.
At least eight of the victims were soldiers, and another eight bodies were swept over the border into Afghanistan, senior local official Osama Waraich said.
Rehman said a military-led rescue and relief operation was now underway, with helicopters being used to reach the affected people and provide them with tents, food and medical aid.
Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) workers were among the first at the scene providing relief.
Nearby villages had received flood warnings from the local authorities, but Ursoon was not alerted in time, the reporter said.