Heavy monsoon rains have triggered flooding in northern Pakistan, killing at least 22 people, officials said today.

At least 13 people died yesterday in Pakistan-held Kashmir, said Sardar Nawaz Khan, a disaster management official.

Nine of the dead belonged to three families who were buried alive when the roofs of their houses caved in.

Another official, Adnan Khan, said nine people died in north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Six of the deaths occurred in Mansehra district, and three in Nowshera district.

Pakistan suffered the worst flooding in its 65-year history in 2010. Floodwaters inundated a fifth of the country, an area larger than England, and killed more than 1,700 people. Over 20 million people were affected.