In Pakistan, Rain Prevents Rescuers from Finding Monsoon Missing

In Pakistan, heavy rains are hindering rescue teams from recovering dozens of bodies still buried in mud after an extreme monsoon episode that has claimed nearly 350 lives in the northern part of the country.

According to authorities, nearly 200 residents from various affected villages are still reported missing. However, since the beginning of the rescue operations, the task for rescuers has only become more complicated.

On Friday, bad weather caused a government helicopter from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province most affected by the deadly rains, to crash, resulting in more than 320 deaths, dozens injured, and damage that could leave hundreds of families without homes, schools, and public services for months.

In Bichnoi, at the heart of the Buner district, the most affected area where the mud has flattened hills and valleys alike, carrying away boulders in its wake, Nisar Ahmad is trying to help.

This 31-year-old volunteer recounts how "for days," he has been, along with others, "pulling bodies from the debris of 12 completely demolished villages."

Terrorized by the Rain

Authorities have deployed 2,000 rescuers for several days.

But this morning, "the return of the rain forced us to halt operations: to recover the dozens of bodies still trapped, we need heavy machinery, but the paths that had been cleared have been washed away by the rain, and no machinery can approach," he explains to AFP.

And this water returning from the sky is not only paralyzing the rescuers but also terrifying the residents.

"Even if it starts to rain lightly, we are terrified because that’s how it all began," says Ghulam Hussain, a resident of Buner.

"Children and women run to take shelter in the mountains, to safety, to try to escape the torrential rains if they were to start again," reports 18-year-old Hazrat Ullah.

And the troubles may just be beginning, warn authorities, as rains are expected to intensify over the next two weeks, and the heat – typical of the summer monsoon – remains high, raising fears of bacterial outbreaks and epidemics as stagnant water annually heralds a wave of dengue in Pakistan.

"Many animals have died in the torrential rains, and their decaying bodies emit foul odors," claims Nisar Ahmad, the volunteer from Bichnoi, who is calling for "emergency drinking water."

AFP