Headteacher Saeed Ahmad’s swift order on Friday saved nearly 900 students in Pakistan’s flood-hit Swat Valley minutes before surging waters demolished their school.
“It was exactly 9 am when I had a last glance at the stream and sensed it was going to burst its banks due to continuing rains,” Ahmad, 59, the school’s principal, told Anadolu. Ahmad ordered an immediate evacuation of nearly 950 enrolled students.
Within 15 minutes, the children and teachers had left. Minutes later, torrents of water smashed into the school, washing away half the building, its boundary walls and the playground.
“Around 900 students were present on August 15 when the flood struck our village and other adjoining areas,” said Sarwar Khan, a local councilor. “This timely action by the principal saved 900 lives.”
The school was one of dozens of educational institutions destroyed in floods that have wreaked havoc across several districts in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing more than 350 people in the past three days, officials said.
Ahmad, who has been serving as principal for 12 years, recalled that the same building was destroyed during floods in July 1995. “There were summer vacations; that’s why there was no casualty,” he said. “That incident was in my mind when I decided to evacuate.”
According to Geo News, the death toll in Pakistan from flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rains has risen to 351.
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In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 328 people lost their lives and many others were injured, while the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan reported 12 deaths and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, also known as Pakistan-administered Kashmir, saw 11 fatalities.
Authorities are worried that the death toll could increase as rescue efforts continue in the hardest-hit regions, where intense floods and landslides have ravaged homes, businesses and infrastructure.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government declared an emergency in all flood-affected areas as the death toll climbed and a search and rescue operation for the missing continues.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority issued a notification declaring nine districts flood-affected, including Swat, Battagram, Bajaur, Buner, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Mansehra, Torghar and Shangla.
So far, 209 deaths have been reported in Buner, with 134 missing and 159 injured. Rescue operations are underway by three army battalions and 300 civil defence volunteers. Authorities are providing food, tents and blankets to those affected.
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gadapur, visited flood-hit areas in Buner and later chaired a meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Officials informed him that over 3,500 people have already been rescued.
He commended the work of all institutions and assured that the government would “leave no stone unturned” in the rehabilitation of the victims.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Saturday also observed a day of mourning to express sorrow and grief over the loss of lives across the province.
The National Disaster Management Authority has warned of another spell of monsoon rains from Friday until September 10.
Monsoon rains, which typically last from June to September, often cause destruction across South Asia, including Pakistan, but climate change has increased their unpredictability and intensity in recent years.
