The flood caused by torrential rain hit the Oshai Darray village in Upper Dir district of North West Frontier Province around 4:30 pm.
"Seventeen bodies have been recovered after about 40 to 50 people were swept away by flooding," local mayor Sardar Tariqullah told AFP by telephone from Upper Dir, some 320 kilometres (200 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
"The calamity has devastated the area and rescue efforts are under way, but we need help on an urgent basis," Tariqullah said.
He added that the death toll was "likely to rise."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2007