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,

Pakistan has received higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall this year, triggering floods and mudslides that have killed more than 540 people since June 26.

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. The head of the family, Umar Khan, said he survived the floods because he was out of the house at the time. Four of his relatives have yet to be found, he added.