Pakistan torrential monsoon kills more than 400

The natural disaster not only destroyed hundreds of homes and thousands of acres of cultivated land in the northwest and Pakistani Kashmir, but it also left the communities isolated as the main highway to China has been reportedly cut off.

Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference said that “this is the worst ever flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the country’s history. At least 408 deaths have been confirmed in floods and rain related incidents across the province.”

150 people have been reported missing, whilst floods washed away 200 kilometres of main roads and link roads, Hussain said.

The worst-hit area was Malakand, where 102 people died and 16,000 were isolated because bridges have collapsed and road links been cut.

An “unprecedented” 312  millimetres of rain has fallen in the last 36 hours in the northwest. The meteorological office said that only scattered showers are forecasted in the coming days.

On Wednesday a Pakistani passenger jet crashed in hills overlooking Islamabad, killing 152 persons.