Pakistan flooding death toll approaches 300

RESCUERS in Pakistan yesterday recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in the northwest of the country, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding.

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Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency services, said 54 bodies were found in Buner, a mountainous area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and cloudbursts triggered massive flooding last Friday. Mr Suhail said villagers remained missing, and search efforts were focused on areas where homes were flattened by torrents of water that swept down from mountains, carrying boulders that smashed into houses like explosi