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Warning of more floods as millions affected

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Authorities warned of more flooding this week in Pakistan and heavy rain lashed victims living in makeshift camps on Monday, adding to the urgency of a massive international relief effort under way.

“Floods seem to be chasing us everywhere,” said 45-year-old Ali Bakhsh Bhaio, as monsoon downpours pounded his makeshift tent on the side of the major highway in Sukkur, a hard-hit area in Sindh province.

The Sindh irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, said the dam in Sukkur faced a major test of its strength as floodwaters coursed down the Indus River into Pakistan’s highly populated agricultural heartland.

“The coming four to five days are still crucial,” he said.

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Pakistan monsoon floods kill more than 460

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PESHAWAR: Flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed more than 460 people in Pakistan in three days and affected at least 600,000, a minister said Friday.

Hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares (acres) of cultivated land were destroyed in the northwest and AJK, with the main highway to China reportedly cut off and communities left isolated.

“This is the worst ever flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the country’s history,” provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference.

“At least 460 deaths have been confirmed in floods and rain related incidents across the province,” he said.

Another 150 people are missing; he said adding that floods washed away 200 kilometres (125 miles) of main roads and link roads.

“At least 600,000 people have been affected and the number was likely to go up as water levels continue to rise in rivers in Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsada, the minister said.

Swat, Shangla and Peshawar were cut off from the rest of country as roads and highways were submerged in water, he said.

Relief organisations earlier put the toll at 325 dead in the northwestern province, where impoverished families live in remote mountain villages.

“We have so far gathered the figure of 325 deaths due to flash floods in the northwest and AJK,” Anwer Kazmi, spokesman for Pakistan’s largest charity the Edhi Foundation told AFP.

“Our officials have got reports of at least 300 deaths in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province while 25 people died in Muzaffarabad.

“We have not collected the complete figures from some districts and fear the number of casualties is much higher,” he said.

The meteorological department said an “unprecedented” 312 millimetres (12 inches) of rain had fallen in the last 36 hours in the northwest but predicted only scattered showers during coming days.

Provincial relief commissioner Shakil Qadir said the worst-hit area was Malakand, where 102 people died and 16,000 were marooned because bridges have collapsed and road links been cut.

Qadir said that around 2,800 Pakistani holidaymakers had been stranded in the Swat valley. Efforts are being made to airlift them to safety in helicopters, he said.

The dead in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa included 29 people killed when a landslide hit their houses Friday, police said.

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