'As if a dam had burst' Pakistan left reeling after devastating flash floods

As flood waters surged through the streets and submerged the houses, Bilawal Jamshed rushed to the rooftop with his family, terrified the water would swallow everyone in Mingora, Swat, in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

- Shah Meer Baloch

"Everything happened in seconds, as if a dam had burst, and water rushed toward us. We were lucky it was morning and we could escape to the rooftops. Imagine if it had happened at night," said Jamshed, 36, while walking through streets still filled with foul-smelling sludge, as residents and volunteers struggled to clean up more than a week after the devastating floods.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been the worst-hit region in Pakistan, with torrential rains and flash floods killing more than 400 people, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Thousands of houses in Swat have reportedly been damaged, with losses worth billions of rupees.