Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said engineers were working to fully restore the electricity system that was knocked out by flooding last week.

A deluge of rain triggered floods and landslides, sweeping people away and flooding and destroying homes, officials said.

Officials say rescuers have recovered dozens more bodies from the rubble of collapsed homes in a northwestern district of Pakistan, bringing the death toll to at least 274, as authorities defended their response to the flooding and said they did not need any foreign help at this point.