Situationer: ‘It’s end of world’

BAYSHONAI KALAY: Aziz Ahmed, a local schoolteacher in Buner, 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, burying people and homes in their path. “You can say that those who survived have gone mad,” said Ahmed, pointing to a house where just one family member still lived.

In the remote village of Bayshonai Kalay, the smell of rotting corpses hung in the air on Sunday, as locals waited for heavy machinery to arrive to remove debris.

Muhammad Sher said that five houses had existed immediately around where he was standing, with some 30 homes lost in total. He said that some 40 of the villagers’ bodies had been found, including his cousin’s, which had been washed around two kilometers away.

“This was a natural disaster which came and wiped out our entire village,” Sher said. “Some people were taken away, some were saved, and there was a lot of chaos.”

“We saw all the houses, buildings, and vehicles being swept away like pieces of wood. We managed to climb up the mountain, and when we looked down, our home was gone,” said Suleman Khan, a schoolteacher in Buner district who lost 25 relatives.

More than 150 people are missing in Buner, where at least 208 people were killed and “10 to 12 entire villages” were partially buried, officials told AFP.

AFP journalists in Buner saw half-buried vehicles and belongings lying strewn in the sludge, with mud covering houses and shops. After days without power, the electricity supply was restored on Sunday afternoon.

A grave digger, Qaiser Ali Shah, told AFP he dug 29 burial places in the last two days. “I have also dug six graves for children. With each grave, it felt as though I was digging it for my own child,” he said.

“For the first time, my body simply refused to carry me through. That’s why today I apologised and said I cannot do this work anymore.”

Flooded roads hampered the movement of rescue vehicles, as a few villagers worked to cut fallen trees to clear the way after the water receded. “Our belongings are scattered, ruined and are in bad shape,” shopkeeper Noor Muhammad told AFP as he used a shovel to remove mud.

“The shops have been destroyed along with everything else. Even the little money people had has been washed away,” he added. “Every house in our area has been destroyed,” said Buner resident Bakht Rawan. “Our loved ones are still buried under the mud, stones, and collapsed houses,” he told AFP. “We appeal to the government to please send machinery to us.”