A changing climate has made residents of northern Pakistan's river-carved mountainous areas more vulnerable to sudden, heavy rains.View on euronews

Rescuers and villagers searched for survivors on Tuesday (Aug 19) as the death toll from days of torrential rains and flash floods in northern Pakistan climbed to nearly 400.

Rescue workers on Tuesday recovered more bodies from a mountain village in northwest Pakistan where flash floods triggered by a cloudburst brought down homes and buildings, bringing the death toll there to at least 20,

Bodies were still being recovered in the northwest, with an unspecified number of people missing, said NDMA Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik.

Across Pakistan, monsoon rains that began in late June have been heavier than usual, killing at least 645 people. Four hundred of those deaths were in the northwest alone, where narrow valleys and river-carved gorges funnel rainwater into sudden torrents.

A series of destructive floods caused by cloudbursts in northwest Pakistan has resulted in 365 deaths over the past five days. The village of Dalori Bala bore significant losses, with 20 fatalities and widespread home destruction.

Pakistan has restored 70% of electricity and reopened damaged roads in the country’s north and northwest after flash floods killed more than 300 people.

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers and expressed his closeness for the victims of severe flooding that hit Pakistan, India and Nepal. The Pope shared his prayers “for the victims and their families, and for all those who are suffering as a result of this calamity,” Vatican News reported on Aug. 18.