Urgent appeal to save lives amid Pakistan floods

Flash flooding triggered by days of heavy monsoon rains has killed more than 300 people, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the country’s north-west. Deaths have also been reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region in a grim and rapidly rising death toll. Scores of people remain missing.

There are horrifying reports of houses washed away by surging floodwaters or flattened by landslides. Whole communities have been submerged, with damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure making rescue and relief efforts particularly challenging. Many families have lost everything.