Flash floods in India, Pakistan kill hundreds

Helicopter carrying relief supplies crashes in bad weather, killing all five people aboard.

- By CHANNI ANAND AND Riaz KHAN

MOURNERS ATTEND the funeral of victims of a powerful cloudburst in Salarzai, Pakistan, on Friday.

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed more than 280 people in India and Pakistan and left scores of others missing, officials said Friday, as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries.

In Pakistan, a helicopter carrying relief supplies to the flood-hit northwestern Bajaur region crashed due tobad weather, killing all five people on board, including two pilots, a government statement said.

And devastating floods in India led to the suspension of an annual Hindu pilgrimage and the evacuation of thousands of pilgrims.

Cloudbursts — sudden, intense downpours over small areas — are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, and can wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides.

Experts say cloudbursts have increased partly because of climate change, while storm damage has increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.

Top leaders in both countries offered their condolences to the victims’ families and assured them of swift relief.

Dozens missing in Himalayan village

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said.

At least 300 people were rescued Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides, but the operation was halted overnight. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away, and the number of missing could increase.