Pakistan flood toll tops 800
Source: Agencies |
August 1, 2010, Sunday
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Flooding in Pakistan has killed more than 800 people in a week, a government official said yesterday as rescuers struggled to reach marooned victims and some evacuees showed signs of fever, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases.
The flooding caused by record-breaking rainfalls caused massive destruction in the past week, especially in the northwest province, where officials said it was the worst deluge since 1929. The UN estimated yesterday that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.
The information minister for the northwest province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said reports coming in from various districts across the northwest showed that more than 800 people had died from the flooding. Many remain missing.
Floodwaters were receding in the northwest, officials said, but fresh rains were expected to lash other parts of the country in coming days.
In the Nowshera area in the northwest, scores of men, women and children sat on roofs in hopes of rescues by air or boat.
"They have no water, no food," said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the area.
A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhea and others had marks on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.
"Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough," Jaa told The Associated Press.
Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try reaching flood-hit areas, the UN said. It reported that thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged.
The destruction is slowing the rescue effort, said Lutfur Rehman, a government official.
Qamarul Zaman, head of Pakistan's Meteorological Department, said no more rain was expected in the next few days for the northwest and that floodwaters were receding. But Punjab in the east, Sindh in the south, and Pakistan's side of the disputed Kashmir region all could expect a lashing over the next three or four days, he said.
Flooding has already affected some of those regions, with more than 21 people dying in Kashmir. A plane crash that killed 152 people in Islamabad Wednesday also occurred in stormy weather.
The flooding caused by record-breaking rainfalls caused massive destruction in the past week, especially in the northwest province, where officials said it was the worst deluge since 1929. The UN estimated yesterday that some 1 million people nationwide were affected by the disaster, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.
The information minister for the northwest province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said reports coming in from various districts across the northwest showed that more than 800 people had died from the flooding. Many remain missing.
Floodwaters were receding in the northwest, officials said, but fresh rains were expected to lash other parts of the country in coming days.
In the Nowshera area in the northwest, scores of men, women and children sat on roofs in hopes of rescues by air or boat.
"They have no water, no food," said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the area.
A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhea and others had marks on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.
"Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough," Jaa told The Associated Press.
Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try reaching flood-hit areas, the UN said. It reported that thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged.
The destruction is slowing the rescue effort, said Lutfur Rehman, a government official.
Qamarul Zaman, head of Pakistan's Meteorological Department, said no more rain was expected in the next few days for the northwest and that floodwaters were receding. But Punjab in the east, Sindh in the south, and Pakistan's side of the disputed Kashmir region all could expect a lashing over the next three or four days, he said.
Flooding has already affected some of those regions, with more than 21 people dying in Kashmir. A plane crash that killed 152 people in Islamabad Wednesday also occurred in stormy weather.
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