300 die in India, Pakistan as monsoon floods wreak havoc
Print Edition
LANDSLIDES and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed nearly 300 people in large swaths of northern India and Pakistan, officials said yesterday.
Five days of incessant rains in Indian-controlled Kashmir have left at least 120 people dead in the region’s worst flooding in more than five decades, submerging hundreds of villages and triggering landslides, officials said. In neighboring Pakistan, more than 160 people have died and thousands of homes have collapsed, with an official saying the situation was becoming a “national emergency.”
Rescuers in both nations were using helicopters and boats to try to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes as floodwaters rose and submerged many villages.
Rescue efforts in Srinagar, the main city in India-held Kashmir, were hampered by fast-moving floodwaters that submerged large parts of the city.
The rains had stopped yesterday, but officials said the spreading water from the Jhelum River was moving too fast to allow boats to reach many people stranded in Srinagar for much of the day.
In many of Srinagar’s neighborhoods, the water was about 4 meters deep, submerging entire houses. Stranded residents left their homes to move in with relatives in safer areas.
“I’m in my 80s and I’ve never seen floods like this,” said Ghulam Nabi, speaking through a window from the third floor of his house in Srinagar’s Rajbagh. “If this is how it is in my neighborhood, I cannot imagine the devastation in other areas.”
Thousands of police officers and army rescue workers were fanned out across Jammu and Kashmir to help with relief and rescue efforts.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the flood-hit areas from a helicopter yesterday and promised the state federal help to deal with the devastation, which he described as a “national level disaster.”
In Pakistan, 103 people have died in the eastern province of Punjab from the collapse of houses, flooding and electrocution, said Ali Imam Syed, a senior rescue agency official. He said more than 5,000 people had been rescued since Thursday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
