Local residents look at the SWAT River, which is flowing due to heavy rains in the region, on the outskirts of Mingora, the main city of the Swat Valley of Pakistan, Friday, June 27, 2025. Photo Credit: AP
Flash floods, which began with pre-monsoon rains, landed dozens of tourists in Northwest Pakistan on Friday (June 27, 2025), killing at least eight people.
Officials said the nationwide death due to rain -related incidents increased to 18 in the last 24 hours.
About 100 rescue teams in various groups rescued a total of 58 people and were searching for the missing tourists who were swept away by a picnic on the banks of the Swat River in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Shah Fahad, a spokesman of the provincial emergency service.
He said that only three people belonging to an extended family of 16 can be saved and others are still missing.
Fahd said that divers had so far recovered eight bodies after hours long efforts and the search for the remaining 10 victims continued.
The video that wandered on social media featured about a dozen people, who were trapped in a slightly high place in the middle of the SWAT River, crying for help in the midst of rapidly growing flood waters.
Fahd urged the public to strictly follow the government’s warning about the possible flash floods in the Swat river, which runs through the beautiful SWAT Valley – a popular summer destination for thousands of tourists that visit the region equally in summer and winter.
According to rescue officials, at least 10 people were killed in rain -related incidents in Eastern Punjab and Southern Sindh provinces in the last 24 hours.
Weather forecasts say that rain will continue this week. Pakistan’s annual monsoon season runs from July to September.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of tourists flowing by floods in the Swat river. In a statement, he instructed the authorities to strengthen safety measures near rivers and streams.
Heavy rains have defeated some parts of Pakistan since the beginning of this week, which blocks the highways and damage the houses.
Nevertheless, weather forecasts say the country will get less rainfall than 2022 when the climate-inspired downpore swollen rivers and hit a third of Pakistan at one point, killing 1,739.
Published – June 27, 2025 05:42 pm IST