QUETTA, 12 February 2005 — At least 100 people have been killed and nearly 700 missing after flash flooding ripped open a dam and washed away several villages in Balochistan.
Provincial Minister Sherjan Baloch said that the flash flooding caused the collapse of the back portion of the Shadi Kor dam in Pasni Tehsil of Gwadar district, inundating many villages. At least 40 corpses have been recovered from the villages. Thousands of villagers are reported marooned.
Over 700 residents of Sindhi Paso and Turati villages were missing, some of them feared dead, as gushing floodwaters swept their villages after the dam burst, Baloch said. “The Shadi Kor dam was washed away because of accumulation of rainwater beyond its capacity. Half the Pasni Tehsil’s population (of 5,000) is now trapped in the floodwater,” said the minister, who also belongs to Pasni Tehsil.
Meanwhile, death toll from rain-related incidents continued to rise yeesterday with at least 45 people reported dead and 22 others wounded across the country. Most of the deaths occurred in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In one major incident, sixteen people, including 12 members of one family, were killed on Thursday.
