Pakistan rescuers recover bodies after monsoon rains kill over 340

Rescuers struggled to retrieve bodies from muddy debris on Saturday after flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains across northern Pakistan killed at least 344 people in the past 48 hours, authorities said.

The majority of deaths, 324, were reported in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the National Disaster Management Authority said.

Most were killed in flash floods and collapsing houses, while at least 137 others were injured.

One resident told AFP it felt like "the end of the world" as the ground shook with the force of the water. The provincial rescue agency told AFP that around 2,000 rescue workers were engaged in recovering bodies from the debris and carrying out relief operations in nine districts, where rain was still hampering efforts.

"Heavy rainfall, landslides in several areas, and washed-out roads are causing significant challenges in delivering aid, particularly in transporting heavy machinery and ambulances," Bilal Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency, told AFP.

He said road closures meant rescue workers had to walk to some of the disaster sites in remote regions.

"They are trying to evacuate survivors, but very few people are relocating due to the deaths of their relatives or loved ones being trapped in the debris," Faizi said.

Buner district deputy commissioner Kashif Qayum Khan also said rescuers were forced to find new ways to reach remote areas.

"Many more people may still be trapped under the debris, which local residents cannot clear manually," Khan told AFP.

The provincial government has declared the severely affected mountainous districts of Buner, Bajaur, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra and Battagram as disaster-hit areas.

The meteorological department has also issued a heavy rain alert for Pakistan's northwest, urging people to take "precautionary measures".

Eleven more people were killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and another nine in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, national officials said.

Five more were killed when a local government helicopter crashed due to bad weather during a relief mission on Friday.