Claim: A video shows flash floods in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in August 2025.
Fact: The video surfaced online as early as August 2024 and, therefore, is not connected to the recent floods in Buner.
An Instagram user posted a video (archive) that is apparently from the recent floods in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), in August 2025. The caption alongside the clip states:
“Flash floods devastate Buner, Pakistan after rare cloudburst kills hundreds #kpk”.
Flooding and landslides in Pakistan
This year, flash floods and landslides following monsoon rains have devastated several districts in Pakistan, particularly in the North and Northwest.
Cloudbursts in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, in July 2025 caused flash floods and landslides, resulting in road blockages and the destruction of a dozen homes, agricultural crops, and properties in Gilgit and Ghizer.
Punjab remains on high alert as it faces a flooding risk from key rivers, namely the Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej, which have swollen due to extensive rains, and after India released water into Pakistan.
Since 26 June, at least 819 people have died across Pakistan, and another 1,111 have been injured, according to the latest situation report by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the death toll has risen to 479 deaths, which is just under half of the total casualties from the entire country.
Buner district in Malakand, KP was hit the hardest, with at least 237 reportedly dead as of 22 August, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to Dawn, which cited a report by the humanitarian aid organisation Islamic Relief, 60% of families have lost their livelihoods due to the flash floods. “The Islamic Relief’s emergency response team is on the ground distributing food and water, and the team’s assessment found that 73 per cent of houses are destroyed or partially damaged; sixty per cent of people in Buner and 53 per cent in Swat are now unable to support their families; eighty per cent of agricultural land in Buner has been damaged; nearly 50 per cent of livestock animals have died and been washed away,” the report added.
A BBC team visiting the flood-affected areas saw scenes of destruction on the way to “Buner’s Pir Baba Bazaar”, where “crops lay flattened on both sides of the road…Trees were uprooted and vehicles were in ruins – sometimes stuck in mud, sometimes in walls.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial government has declared an emergency in the most affected districts, which will remain in place until 31 August.
Fact or Fiction?
Reverse-searching keyframes from the video revealed that it is old and not connected to the recent floods in Buner.
On Facebook, “The Mexico Post”, a media organisation, posted a video (archive) on 14 December 2024. The description of the post reads [translated into English via Google Translate]: “EARTH MOVEMENT IN PAKISTAN: A natural phenomenon left more than a dozen people perplexed as they witnessed a large-scale earth movement in #Pakistan, causing various shocks and even panic over the possibility that it could affect buildings.” The scenes in this video match the footage from the claim, indicating that it is old.
An Instagram user also posted the same video (archive) on 13 December 2024 with the caption that reads [translated into English]: “Landslide in Mahandari, Pakistan 🇵🇰.” This clip also aligns with the video from the claim, confirming that it is unrelated to the flooding in Buner in August 2025.
Pakistan Observer also posted the video here on Facebook, saying that the landslide shown in the clip took place in “Mahandari, a village in Kaghan”.
Soch Fact Check also found that the same video (archive) had appeared on Instagram as early as August 2024. The description alongside the footage reads: “Despite this slide, naran road is fully operational. 18-08-2024 Witnessed landslide at mahandari, kaghan valley, kpk. #landslide #mahandari #kaghanvalley #kpk #himalayas”.
This post, like the one by Pakistan Observer and the Instagram post from December 2024, indicates that the landslide depicted in the video being fact-checked, likely took place in Kaghan Valley, KP.
On the left is an Instagram post from the claim. On the right is the old video from August 2024.
Soch Fact Check, therefore, rates the claim false as the video appeared online as early as August 2024 and is not connected to the recent flash floods in Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Virality
The Instagram post was liked 62,596 times.
It also appeared on Instagram here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The clip circulating online is not from the recent flash floods in Buner, KP. It is old and appeared online as early as August 2024.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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