PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Associated Press) — (Published: Friday, August 15, 2025 at 07:08:24 UTC) Flash floods triggered by heavy rains swept through northwestern Pakistan and other parts of the country, claiming at least 49 lives in the past 24 hours, officials said today .
According to regional spokesmen, the mortalities occurred predominantly on Thursday, August 14, 2025, during a series of localized cloudbursts and flash floods:
In Ghizer district, Gilgit-Baltistan, 10 people were swept away and killed .
In Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a massive cloudburst claimed 16 lives, including women and children; 17 remain missing .
Battagram district saw 10 casualties, with an additional 18 missing .
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, seven people died in separate rain-related incidents on the same day .
Simultaneously, rescue teams in Mansehra district, Siran Valley, evacuated approximately 1,300 tourists who had been stranded amid landslides and floodwaters .
This tragic spate of fatalities is part of a broader trend: Since June 26, rain-related incidents across Pakistan have claimed more than 360 lives, mostly among women and children .
The AP’s timestamp—07:08:24 UTC on August 15, 2025—serves as a reference point. Based on this, the flash floods and associated deaths primarily unfolded over Thursday, August 14, though the precise times of the cloudbursts (i.e., hour by hour) have not been disclosed by officials or local authorities .
Broader Context & Climate Factor
Continuous flooding since July has severely impacted regions including Gilgit-Baltistan, disrupting the vital Karakoram Highway, a key trade and tourism artery linking Pakistan with China .
Climate scientists are warning that rainfall between June 24 and July 23 was 10–15% heavier than normal—a condition that exacerbates the risk of sudden, intense precipitation events, or “cloudbursts,” such as the one seen in Bajaur .
Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, expressed grief and called for an urgent and robust acceleration of rescue and relief operations .
Authorities have also issued alerts for potential glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), especially in Gilgit-Baltistan—a region that provides roughly 75% of Pakistan’s stored water