Flash Floods Kill at Least 117 in Pakistan, Scores Still Missing

Rescuers in Indian Kashmir used shovels and earthmovers to search for survivors under boulders and debris on Friday, a day after sudden floods triggered by heavy rains killed at least 117 people and left 200 others missing, FRANCE 24 reported.

Gushing mudslides and floodwaters inundated the village of Chasoti on Thursday, washing away pilgrims who had gathered for lunch before trekking up the hill for a popular religious site, in the second such disaster in the Himalayas in a little over a week.

Bags, clothes and other belongings, caked in mud, lay scattered amid broken electric poles and mud on Friday, as rescue workers used ropes and crossed makeshift bridges in an attempt to extricate people from the debris.

At least 117 people were killed in monsoon rains in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, disaster authorities said on Friday with more than 100 injured and another 200 still missing. 

The Himalayas are prone to floods and landslides, but some scientists say the intensity and frequency of these events are increasing due to climate change.

Thursday's incident comes a little over a week after a similar flood and mudslide engulfed an entire village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

In neighboring Nepal, at least 41 people have died, 21 are missing and 121 injured in floods, heavy rains, landslides and hailstorms since early monsoon rains started in June this year, according to data provided by the country's disaster management authority.

And more than 50 people were killed overnight in rain-related incidents across the mountainous north of Pakistan, rescue officials said on Friday. Flooding and the collapse of the roofs of houses caused the deaths.

In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where eight people were killed - including six members of a family buried in the debris of their home - evacuation operations were ongoing for stranded domestic tourists.