At least two people were killed and 31 others injured after strong winds, thunderstorms, and heavy rain triggered house wall collapses and lightning-related incidents across Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, disaster management authorities reported on Wednesday.
Latest casualties and warnings
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed that the casualties occurred in the districts of Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Bannu. Among the injured were seven women, 16 men, and eight children. The PDMA stated, 'Two people have died and 31 others have been injured so far due to lightning strikes and the collapse of house walls caused by strong winds and rain.'
Authorities remain on high alert for heavy rain, flash floods, landslides, and urban flooding across parts of northern Pakistan, with forecasts indicating the current weather system could remain active through June 5. The PDMA's emergency operations center is fully operational, and officials urge residents to exercise caution during the ongoing weather spell.
Climate vulnerability
Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite contributing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists link increasingly erratic rainfall, heat waves, glacier melt, and extreme monsoon events in South Asia to rising global temperatures.
The latest weather-related casualties come less than a year after severe monsoon rains and flooding affected an estimated 7 million people across Pakistan and killed around 1,000, according to government disaster management authorities. The 2025 floods damaged homes, roads, crops, and public infrastructure in several provinces, underscoring the country's vulnerability to increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
Pakistan is still recovering from the far more devastating floods of 2022, when record monsoon rains and glacier melt inundated large parts of the country, affecting 33 million people and killing more than 1,700. The United Nations described that disaster as a climate catastrophe, estimating economic losses in the tens of billions of dollars.
Officials have urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel in vulnerable areas and to report emergencies through the PDMA helpline as intermittent rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds continue across parts of the province.
