Landslides bury Pakistani villages

Rescuers search for survivors, 344 dead

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Thousands of Pakistani rescuers battled rain and knee-deep mud yesterday, digging homes out from under massive boulders in a desperate search for survivors after flash floods killed at least 344 people in the country's mountainous north.

Most of the deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where monsoon rains that are only expected to intensify in the days ahead drove flooding and landslides that collapsed houses.

In hardest-hit Buner district, at least 208 people were killed and “10 to 12 entire villages” partially buried, a provincial rescue spokesman told AFP.

“The operation to rescue people trapped under debris is ongoing,” said Bilal Ahmed Faizi of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's rescue agency.

“There is still concern that dozens of people may be trapped under the rubble... the chances of those buried under the debris surviving are very slim”.