Rescue workers were searching for more bodies after the flood Friday, brought by torrential rains, swept away hamlets in the Upper Dir district in North West Frontier Province, said local official Subhan Khan.

"Fifty-six bodies have been recovered while efforts are underway to retrieve more dead bodies," he told AFP from the remote area near the border with Afghanistan. "Dozens of people are still missing."

District mayor Sardar Tariqullah said the floods destroyed several hamlets in Dir, some 320 kilometres (200 miles) northwest of Islamabad.

Four Afghan refugee girls also died when the roof of their mud house collapsed in a heavy downpour in the provincial capital of Peshawar overnight, said local official Ibrahim Qasimi.

Pakistan has suffered a wave of extreme weather in the past month.

Floods unleashed by a tropical cyclone and monsoon rains in the south and southwest have claimed over 200 lives and affected some 1.6 million people.

Dozens of people have also been killed in recent months in accidents caused by monsoon rains along Pakistan's rugged northwestern border with Afghanistan.

AFP

Güncelleme Tarihi: 21 Temmuz 2007, 20:58