ISTANBUL

The death toll from flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in Pakistan has risen to 344, officials said on Saturday.

The majority of the deaths were reported in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 328 people were killed and 143 were injured in raid- and flood-related incidents, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Over the last 48 hours, five people have also been killed in Gilgit-Baltistan and nine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Schools have been closed on Saturday in Azad Jammu and Kashmir due to the continued risk as heavy rains continue to batter the territory.

Dozens of houses have been damaged in affected areas.

Communications in multiple areas have also been cut off due to mobile phone towers being damaged.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government declared an emergency in all flood-affected areas as the death toll climbed, and the search and rescue operation for missing people continues.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority issued a notification declaring nine districts as flood-affected, including Swat, Battagram, Bajaur, Buner, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Mansehra, Torghar, and Shangla.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday also observed a day of mourning to express sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives across the province.

According to the NDMA, rescue and relief teams from the Pakistan Army, PDMA, district administration, and Rescue 1122 have already arrived in the affected areas and are actively involved in rescue and relief efforts.

The authority also advised tourists to avoid the northern areas for the next five to six days due to heavy rains and landslides.

A helicopter carrying relief supplies to the cloudburst-hit Bajaur area crashed on Friday, killing five crew members, including two pilots, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Heavy rain and cloudbursts caused widespread flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, spokesperson for the provincial rescue unit, Bilal Ahmed Faizi, told Anadolu on Friday.

Rescue teams said heavy rain and a cloudburst had caused massive flooding in the Salarzai area of the Bajaur district early Friday, resulting in the washing away of several houses.

Authorities have relocated many residents to safer places due to rains and landslides in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The National Disaster Management Authority has warned of another spell of monsoon rains from Friday until Sept. 10.

Authorities also cautioned that the rise in temperatures accelerated the melting of snow and glaciers across high-altitude regions, increasing water flows in rivers.

Monsoon rains, which typically last from June to September, often cause destruction across South Asia, including Pakistan, but climate change has increased their unpredictability and intensity in recent years.