Flash floods triggered by torrential rains kill 176 in India and Pakistan

Buildings damaged by flash floods in Chositi village, Kishtwar district, Indian-controlled Kashmir (Channi Anand/AP)

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 176 people and left scores of others missing in India and Pakistan over the past 24 hours, officials said, as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighbouring countries.

Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, which are prone to flash floods and landslides.