Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah said that about 100,000 people, mostly children, were suffering from illnesses such as gastroenteritis.

A spokesman for the charity World Vision said that teams had visited those affected around Peshawar, but those further north had been inaccessible by road.

“They don’t have drinking water or food. They said there have been some visible signs of water-borne diseases,” Muhammad Ali said. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise further as aid workers reached more areas.