RESCUE workers in north-western Pakistan expanded relief operations today after flash floods killed more than 220 people in a single district, officials said.

Buner, a mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was struck by cloudbursts and torrential monsoon downpours on Friday, triggering flash floods and landslides.

Emergency services spokesman in Buner, Mohammad Sohail, said more than half of the damaged roads in the district have been reopened, allowing vehicles and heavy machinery to reach isolated villages.

In one of the deadliest incidents, 24 people from one family died in the village of Qadar Nagar when floodwaters swept through their home on the eve of a wedding. 

Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur visited Buner on Saturday and announced that families of the dead will receive payments of two million rupees (around £5,300) each. He said tents, food, and clean drinking water are being provided to prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases.

According to a government statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is monitoring the relief operations and has ordered faster distribution of aid, evacuation of stranded people, and intensified searches for the missing.

Pakistan’s disaster management authority has warned of more deluges and possible landslides between August 17 and 19, urging local administrations to remain on alert.