Pakistan's monsoon flooding death toll rises to 220 as forecasters warn of more rain to come

BUNER, Pakistan (AP) — Flooding in a northwest Pakistani district has killed at least 220 people, officials said Saturday, as rescuers pulled 63 more bodies overnight from homes flattened by flash floods and landslides, with forecasts of more rain in the coming days.

One eyewitness, who escaped the deluges in Buner, described seeing floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders and “tons of rocks” crashing down.

Hundreds of rescue workers are still searching for survivors in Buner, one of several places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where torrential rains and cloudbursts caused massive flooding on Friday, said Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services. Dozens of homes were swept away.

First responders have been trying to recover bodies from the worst-hit villages of Pir Baba and Malik Pura, where most of the fatalities were, said Kashif Qayyum, a deputy commissioner in Buner.

Local police officer Imtiaz Khan, who narrowly escaped the deluges, said floodwaters carrying hundreds of boulders struck and flattened homes within minutes.

“A stream near Pir Baba village in Buner swelled without warning. At first, we thought it was a normal flash flood, but when tons of rocks came crashing down with the water, 60 to 70 houses were swept away in moments,” Khan told The Associated Press, adding that many bodies were left mutilated.

“Our police station was washed away too and if we hadn’t climbed to higher ground, we would not have survived," Khan said.

Pakistan’s Meteorological Department predicted torrential rains in the coming days and warned that monsoon activity was likely to intensify from Sunday onwards, including in the north and northwest.

Rescuers said they saw large swathes of Pir Baba village destroyed, wrecked homes, and giant rocks filling the streets as the water started to recede.

“It was not just the floodwater, it was a flood of boulders as well, which we saw for the first time in our lives," said Sultan Syed, 45, who suffered a broken arm.

Mohammad Khan, 53, said the floods “came so fast that many could not leave their homes.”

Most victims died before reaching the hospital, said Mohammad Tariq, a doctor in Buner. “Many among the dead were children and men, while women were away in the hills collecting firewood and grazing cattle."

Pakistani leaders, including the prime minister and president, offered their condolences to the families of the dead and said they were praying for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, said efforts were underway to repair roads and other damaged infrastructure.

Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, which experts link to climate change, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed some 541 people since June 26, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

Mourners attended mass funerals on Saturday, while authorities supplied tents and food to people in Buner.

Local cleric Mufti Fazal had led funeral prayers at multiple locations since Friday morning. “Before yesterday’s floods, the area was bustling with life. Now, there is grief and sorrow everywhere."

Schoolteacher Suleman Khan lost 25 members of his extended family. He and his brother survived only because they were away from home when the floods hit his village Qadar Nagar.

In Pir Baba, mourners laid out the covered bodies of their loved ones on wooden bedframes or bore them aloft ahead of burials. In a hospital, paramedics placed blocks of ice next to the deceased or comforted the injured.

According to the provincial disaster management authority, at least 351 people have died in rain-related incidents this week across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In India-controlled Kashmir, rescuers scoured the remote village of Chositi in the district of Kishtwar on Saturday, looking for dozens of missing people after it was hit by flash floods two days earlier, killing 60 and injuring some 150, about 50 in critical condition.

Thursday's floods struck during an annual Hindu pilgrimage in the area. Authorities have rescued over 300 people, while some 4,000 pilgrims have been evacuated to safety.

Such cloudbursts are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, and experts have said climate change is a contributing factor.

Pakistani officials said rescuers since Thursday have evacuated more than 3,500 tourists trapped in flood-hit areas across the country.

Many travelers have ignored government warnings about avoiding vulnerable regions in the north and northwest.

Pakistan witnessed its worst-ever monsoon season in 2022. It killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated $40 billion in damage.

Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, Ishfaq Husain in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and Channi Ananad in Chositi, India, contributed to this report.

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Bodies of children, killed in Friday's flash flooding, seen at a house at a village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

Rescue workers transport the body a victim of Friday's flash flooding after recovering it from the rubble of a damaged house at Qadir Nagar village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

People carry the body of a victim of Friday's flash flooding, after funeral prayers at a village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

Two men comfort each other as they mourn over the death of their family member in Friday's flash flooding, at a village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

People carry bodies of victims of Friday's flash flooding, after funeral prayers at a village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

People attend funeral prayers for the victims of Friday's flash flooding, at a village near Pir Baba, Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Saturday, Aug.16, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

A paramedic and others look at the body of a child, who was killed in the flash flooding at a local hospital in Pir Baba, in Buner district, in Pakistan's northwest, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)

People carry the body of a victim of a cloudburst incident, sudden intense downpours, after funeral prayers, in Naryan Behak village near Muzaffarabad, the main town of Pakistan's controlled Kashmir, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Residents walk next to damaged cars stuck to an electric pole following flash flooding due to heavy rains in a neighborhood of Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Naveed Ali)

A firefighting department vehicle submerged in a floodwater following flash flooding due to heavy rains in the neighbourhood of Mingora, the main town of Swat Valley, northwestern Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada)

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Clayton Kershaw isn't done pitching just yet, agreeing Thursday to join the U.S. team for this year's World Baseball Classic.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner wanted to pitch for the Americans in the 2023 tournament but was prevented because of insurance issues. He had a $20 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time.

“I was too broken for the insurance to cover my arm and everything,” Kershaw said on MLB Network, “so now that it doesn't matter I get to go and be a part of this group.”

A left-hander who turns 38 two days after the March 17 championship game, Kershaw announced last September that he was retiring at the end of the season, his 18th in a stellar career for the Dodgers. He won his third World Series title and finished 223-96 with a 2.53 ERA and 3,052 strikeouts.

“I just want to be the insurance policy,” Kershaw said. “If anybody needs a breather or if they need me to pitch back-to-back-to-back or if they don’t need me to pitch at all, I’m just there to be there. I just want to be a part of this group.”

Later Thursday, new Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman announced he will join the U.S. team.

When Kershaw received a call from U.S. manager Mark DeRosa, he thought he was being invited as a coach.

“I didn't have a whole lot of interest in picking up a baseball again," Kershaw said. “I started throwing 10, 12 days ago and it doesn’t feel terrible, so I think I’ll be OK.”

Kershaw joins a U.S. pitching staff that includes right-handers David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Griffin Jax, Nolan McLean, Mason Miller, Joe Ryan, Paul Skenes and Logan Webb along with left-handers Tarik Skubal and Gabe Speier.

The American roster also includes catchers Cal Raleigh and Will Smith; infielders Ernie Clement, Gunnar Henderson, Brice Turang and Bobby Witt Jr.; outfielders Byron Buxton, Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Aaron Judge; and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

The U.S., which lost the 2023 championship game to Japan, opens March 6 against Brazil at Houston, part of a group that also includes Britain, Italy and Mexico.

Shohei Ohtani struck out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout to end Japan's 3-2 win in the 2023 championship. Kershaw doesn't anticipate facing Ohtani, his teammate for the Dodgers' World Series titles in 2024 and 2025.

“I think something will have gone terribly wrong if I have to pitch against team Japan in the finals or something. I think we got plenty of guys to get that guy out and not me,” Kershaw said. “But if that happens, I'll be nervous. I'll be nervous at this point.”

AP baseball: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw celebrates the end of the top of the 12th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)