Aziz Ahmed, a local schoolteacher in Buner, northwestern Pakistan said the thunder accompanying recent torrential rains was so loud he thought the "end of the world had come". Water, rocks and trees were swept down the mountainside after two days of intense monsoon rains,

Officials say rescuers have recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in a northwestern district of Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding and said they did not need any foreign help at this point.

Across the wider province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 314 people have been killed and 156 injured due to rains and flash floods that began between Thursday and Friday night. Buner district, where Bishnoi is located, is the worst-affected, with 217 fatalities, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).