Heavy monsoons in Pakistan kill at least 313 people

http://timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT... PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The death toll in three days of flooding in Pakistan has reached at least 313, Pakistani rescue and government officials said. The rains have bloated rivers, submerged villages, and triggered landslides throughout the northwest of the country in the worst flooding in the region since 1929. The rising toll of the monsoon rains underscore the poor infrastructure in impoverished Pakistan, where under-equipped rescue workers were struggling to reach people stranded in far-flung villages. Pakistani TV on Friday showed images of people clinging to fences and other stationary items as water gushed over their heads. The northwest appeared to be the hardest hit, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for the province, said. At least 245 people died in various parts of that province over the last three days, Mujahid Khan of the Edhi Foundation, a privately run rescue service that operates morgues and ambulances across the South Asian country, said. In Pakistani-administered Kashmir, at least 22 people had been confirmed dead as of Thursday evening, Sardar Attique Khan, the area's prime minister, told reporters. The tolls from the deluge were expected to rise because many people were still missing. Poor weather this week also may have been a factor in Wednesday's Airblue plane crash that killed 152 people near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. In the Swat Valley, residents were forced to trudge through knee-deep water in some streets. A newly constructed part of a dam in the Charsadda district collapsed, while the UN said it had reports that 5,000 homes were underwater in that area. Hussain estimated 400,000 people were stranded in various northwest villages. "A rescue operation using helicopters cannot be conducted due to the bad weather, while there are only 48 rescue boats available for rescue," he said. Pakistan's poorest residents are often the ones living in flood-prone areas because they can't afford safer land. Southwest Baluchistan province has also been hit hard by the recent rains. Last week, flash floods in that region killed at least 41 people and swept away thousands of homes. The UN in a statement on Thursday said 150,000 people were affected there. -- Copyright 2010 THE TIMES OF EARTH All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.