Heavy monsoon rains have triggered a deadly residential collapse in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 11 people. The victims, who were mostly women and children, died overnight when the roof of a mud-brick house caved in.
The disaster took place in the Kohat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency service Rescue 1122, confirmed that emergency teams recovered the victims' bodies from the debris. The bodies have since been handed over to their families for burial.
Beyond the collapse, torrential seasonal rains have caused widespread disruption across the region. Heavy downpours battered the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, triggering major landslides that damaged local homes and blocked critical roadways. In response to the worsening weather, regional emergency services have issued an official advisory urging tourists to avoid travelling to northern Pakistan due to the high risk of flash floods and additional landslides.
These types of fatal structural failures are common during Pakistan's annual monsoon season, as heavy rains frequently compromise older or poorly constructed buildings. The current wave of extreme weather follows years of heightened vulnerability to climate disasters in the region. Most notably, unprecedented monsoon flooding in 2022 submerged nearly a third of Pakistan, resulting in 1,739 deaths and causing an estimated 30 billion dollars in economic damage.
