Rescuers and villagers in northern Pakistan worked through the night by the dim light of mobile phones to dig through the rubble of collapsed houses after a devastating cloudburst triggered a landslide in a remote valley.
The disaster struck Dalori, a village in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, late on Monday when torrents of water and massive rocks cascaded down the mountainside, flattening at least 15 homes, damaging several others, and killing nine people.
With electricity cut off and heavy machinery unable to reach the narrow lanes, residents used hammers, shovels, and their bare hands to claw through concrete and debris in search of survivors. “A huge bang came from the top of the mountain, and then dark smoke billowed into the sky,” recalled Lal Khan, a 46-year-old labourer. “A massive surge of water gushed down with the sliding mountain.”
The cloudburst came amid days of relentless monsoon rains that have already left more than 350 people dead across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the border with Afghanistan. Since Thursday, floods and landslides have swept away entire villages, with nearly 200 people still missing, according to local authorities. Officials have warned of further flash floods in the coming days.
Survivors described scenes of horror. Khan said he spotted the hand of his neighbour protruding from the rubble, where rescuers later found her body alongside those of her four children. “We are absolutely helpless. We don’t have the means to tackle this calamity that nature has sent upon us,” he said.
Another resident, Gul Hazir, said several cloudbursts struck from different sides of the valley, unleashing torrents of rocks and debris. “It was like an apocalyptic movie. I still can’t believe what I saw,” he said. “It was not the water that struck first, but a massive amount of rocks and stones that smashed into the houses.”
Local administration official Usman Khan said many homes had been built in the stream bed, worsening the devastation. “There was no way for the water to recede after the cloudburst struck at least 11 separate locations in the area,” he explained. Narrow alleys also made it impossible for heavy equipment to pass, further hampering rescue efforts.
Among those searching desperately was student Saqib Ghani, who lost his father in the tragedy. Villagers pulled him away as he tried to dig with his bare hands to reach other relatives.
The single road leading to Dalori was torn apart in multiple places, isolating the community. Funerals have already been held for several victims, while families mourned in darkened homes without electricity. Cattle wandered through ruined streets, and villagers who days earlier had been collecting money to help neighbours in other flood-hit areas now found themselves in need.
“I will not live here anymore,” said one grieving woman as she followed a coffin through the shattered village.
