Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed over 280 people and left scores of others missing in India and Pakistan over the past 24 hours.

Included in the fatalities are three aid workers and two pilots who were aboard a helicopter carrying relief supplies.

On Friday, officials said rescuers had brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries.

Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions.

They are also common in Pakistan’s northern areas, which are prone to flash floods and landslides.

Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change.

Damage from the storms have also increased because of unplanned development in the mountain regions.