| Floods wreak havoc in Pakistan, toll at 800 |
PESHAWAR Rescue workers and troops in northwest Pakistan struggled on Saturday to reach thousands of people affected by the country’s worst floods in living memory, as the death toll rose to 800.
In Muscat, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said sent a cable of condolences to Pakistan President HE Asif Ali Zardari on the casualties of the heavy rain and flood that swept several areas in the northwest and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy to President Zardari, families of the victims and the friendly people of Pakistan praying to Almighty to rest their souls in peace and grant their families patience.
Hundreds of homes and vast swathes of farmland were destroyed in the northwest and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, with the main highway to China reportedly cut and communities isolated as monsoon rains caused flash floods and landslides.
The United Nations said almost a million people had been affected by the flooding, and at least 45 bridges destroyed around Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Television footage and photos shot from helicopters showed people clinging to the walls and roof tops of damaged houses as gushing waters rampaged through inundated villages.
“This is the worst ever flood in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the country’s history,” Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said.
“The death toll in floods and rain-related incidents has risen up to 800 across the province,” he said.
Another 150 people were missing in the northwestern province, where many impoverished families live in remote mountain villages.
ONA and Agencies
|
 |
|
|
| NEWS UPDATES |
|
|
|
|
|
|
