Heavy rain caused landslides in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 50 people and destroying homes in two villages, officials said.

Villagers are still missing, and at least 50 bodies have been recovered after the landslides in the northern Dirbala district, local official Nisar Khan Wardak said. 

Wardak said seven houses were destroyed and others damaged

The deputy chief of police of the Dirbala district, Sultan Ghani, said officers and doctors have been sent to the villages, which are located in the mountains near a fast-flowing stream.

"It seems the lightning triggered landslides, and boulders struck homes," he said.

With files from the Associated Press