Flooded wedding in Pakistan turns into funeral for 24

Two days before the wedding, Noor Muhammad spoke to his mother on the phone for a long time. Wedding preparations were also in full swing at home. But two days later, he came home and witnessed a tragic outcome. Noor Muhammad had to attend the funeral of 24 people, including 23 family members who lost their lives in the terrible flood. A Geo News report on Friday (August 22) said that the incident took place in Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan. Noor Muhammad is a Pakistani citizen living in Malaysia. He came to Pakistan on August 15 to get married. During the terrible flood in the country, 24 of the 28 members of Muhammad’s family and relatives who were staying in the house lost their lives. Noor Muhammad spoke to reporters standing next to the ruins of the family’s huge 36-room house located on the banks of a canal in Qadir Nagar village of Buner district. “I can’t explain how happy she (her mother) was,” he said. The village in the hilly Buner district was the worst hit by the recent heavy rains. More than 200 people have died in the region since August 15 in Pakistan’s worst floods. “Everything is over,” said 25-year-old Noor, weeping. “When I returned home, there was nothing but rubble and heavy stones. Mud from the mountains and heavy floodwaters collapsed houses, markets and buildings,” he said. “The flood came, a terrible flood came, it swept away everything, the house, my mother, sister, brother, my uncle, my grandfather and the children.” Noor Muhammad works as a labourer in Malaysia. He arrived at Islamabad airport on August 15 to return home for a wedding. He survived because his father and another brother went to receive him at the airport. Muhammad said only four of his 28 family members are alive. “What more can we say?” he said. This is God’s will. Among the dead were Noor Muhammad’s mother, a brother, and a sister. In addition, there were members of his uncle’s family, who inherited the house his grandfather had built, and relatives who attended his wedding.