Pakistan defends flood response amid criticism

Rescuers recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in a northwestern district of Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding and said they did not need any foreign help at this point.

- BY MUHAMMAD SAJJAD AND RIAZ KHAN

MUHAMMAD SAJJAD Associated Press A GIRL sits atop the rubble of her home Sunday after last week's flash flooding in Pir Baba, Pakistan. Villagers said officials failed to warn them about the weather.

Heavy rains and flooding also killed dozens of people in neighboring Kashmir.

Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan's emergency service, said 54 bodies were found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding Friday.

Suhail said villagers remain missing, and search efforts are focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from the mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosions.

Authorities have warned of more deluges and possible landslides until Tuesday, urging local administrations to remain on alert. Higher-than-normal monsoon rains have lashed the country since June 26 and killed more than 600.

In India-administered Kashmir, across Pakistan’s northeastern border, rains triggered more flash floods in two villages in the Kathua district, killing seven people, officials said Sunday.

Rescuers in Chositi village are still looking for dozens of missing people after the area was hit by flash floods last week during an annual Hindu pilgrimage. At least 60 people were killed, and some 150 injured. More than 300 others were rescued.

No warning