At least 27 people were killed, including eight children, as heavy rains followed by strong winds battered northwestern Pakistan over the weekend, officials said Sunday.

"At least 12 people were buried alive after the roofs and walls of their houses collapsed," Taimur Ali Khan, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority told AFP.

The storms hit four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province late Saturday, with 15 people killed in the Bannu district, including five siblings aged between two and 11.

More than 140 people were injured and more than 200 livestock died, he said.

Authorities have declared an emergency in all four of the districts.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed grief over the loss of life loss from the storm and directed authorities to pick up the pace of the relief operation.

Last year, Pakistan was lashed by unprecedented monsoon rains over the summer that put a third of the country under water, damaging 2 million homes and killing more than 1,700 people.

Meanwhile, in the south of the country, authorities said Sunday that a cyclone was approaching Pakistan and India from the Arabian Sea.

Prime Minister Sharif ordered officials to put in place emergency measures in advance of the approaching Cyclone Biparjoy.

The "severe and intense" cyclone with wind speeds of 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) was on a course toward the country’s south, Pakistan's disaster management agency said.

"Fishermen are advised not to venture into the open sea till the system is over by June 17," it said.