20 dead in recent Pakistan monsoon rains: local officials

At least 20 people were killed on Monday by torrential rains in northwest Pakistan, local officials said, as the region is ravaged by an unusually intense and deadly monsoon season.

"A cloudburst in the Gadoon area of Swabi completely destroyed several houses, killing more than 20 people," a local official in the district told AFP. Between three and five villages were wiped out by the huge amount of rain falling in a short period of time, a second official said, confirming the death toll.