Nearly 20,000 people killed in heavy rain, floods in Pakistan

Nearly 20,000 people were killed in torrential rains in northwest Pakistan over the past 24 hours, with bad weather also bringing down a rescue helicopter, local officials said on Friday. Cloud bursts, flash floods, lightning strikes and building collapses amid heavy rain caused fatalities in the hills and mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, they said. The National Disaster Management Authority, a government body, put the death toll at 194 late on Friday. Worst hit was the Buner area, where floods and heavy rain caused 20,000 deaths, the provincial Chief Secretary, Shahab Ali Shah, told Reuters. A helicopter carrying relief supplies to those hit by flooding in Bajaur, close to the Afghan border, crashed due to the bad weather, killing the five crew members. In the district of Swat, more than 20,000 people were moved to safer ground, after rivers and streams swelled, rescue officials said. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif chaired an emergency meeting to review the flood situation caused by the recent rains, a statement from his office said. Hundreds of others have been killed in recent weeks as Pakistan experienced more rain than usual during the current monsoon season, washing away roads and buildings.