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Three million affected by Pakistan floods
Source: Agencies |
August 3, 2010, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
THE worst floods in memory in Pakistan have affected more than 3 million people so far and claimed the lives of more than 1,400 people, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund said today.
The catastrophe, which started almost a week ago, is likely to deepen as more rains are expected and conditions are ripe for the outbreak of diseases.
Pakistani authorities are struggling to help victims of the flooding, many of whom have lost their homes and livelihood and say they had not received any official warnings that raging waters were heading their way.
Anger is spreading in towns such as Charssada. A reporter saw people attacking trucks distributing relief items. Police then charged at them with batons.
UNICEF spokesman Abdul Sami Malik said 1.3 million people were severely affected by the floods in the northwest.
Aid agencies and Pakistani government officials will meet today to determine whether to make an urgent international appeal for help, he said.
Islamist charities, some with suspected ties to militants, have stepped in to provide aid, piling pressure on the government to show it can take control of the crisis.
Islamist groups played a key role in the relief effort following a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed 75,000 people.
Authorities forecast more of the heavy monsoon rains that have been lashing the area for the past week. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said more than 29,500 houses were damaged and a key trade highway to China was blocked by flooding.
Waters have receded in some flooded areas. But UNICEF's Malik expressed concern that waters were spreading from the worst hit province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Pakistan's Punjab heartland, the major food-producing province, as well as the Sindh region.
"What we have heard from Punjab is that 50,000 people have already been displaced and 200,000 people are being evacuated from Sindh," he said.
"In case of further rain, they expect that out of 23 districts in Sindh, 19 will be affected."
Officials said it was too early to estimate the damage the floods had caused to the economy.
The catastrophe, which started almost a week ago, is likely to deepen as more rains are expected and conditions are ripe for the outbreak of diseases.
Pakistani authorities are struggling to help victims of the flooding, many of whom have lost their homes and livelihood and say they had not received any official warnings that raging waters were heading their way.
Anger is spreading in towns such as Charssada. A reporter saw people attacking trucks distributing relief items. Police then charged at them with batons.
UNICEF spokesman Abdul Sami Malik said 1.3 million people were severely affected by the floods in the northwest.
Aid agencies and Pakistani government officials will meet today to determine whether to make an urgent international appeal for help, he said.
Islamist charities, some with suspected ties to militants, have stepped in to provide aid, piling pressure on the government to show it can take control of the crisis.
Islamist groups played a key role in the relief effort following a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed 75,000 people.
Authorities forecast more of the heavy monsoon rains that have been lashing the area for the past week. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said more than 29,500 houses were damaged and a key trade highway to China was blocked by flooding.
Waters have receded in some flooded areas. But UNICEF's Malik expressed concern that waters were spreading from the worst hit province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to Pakistan's Punjab heartland, the major food-producing province, as well as the Sindh region.
"What we have heard from Punjab is that 50,000 people have already been displaced and 200,000 people are being evacuated from Sindh," he said.
"In case of further rain, they expect that out of 23 districts in Sindh, 19 will be affected."
Officials said it was too early to estimate the damage the floods had caused to the economy.
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