KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, 2 July 2007 — Flash floods swept through villages in Pakistan’s storm-hit Sindh and Balochistan provinces killing dozens of people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes as a huge effort to help up to 1.5 million people geared up.
Hundreds of villages were inundated in at least 10 districts in Balochistan, affecting 1.5 million people, with 90 percent of crops, cattle and houses destroyed in some areas, relief commissioner Ali Gul Kurd said.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz who visited Turbat yesterday was told that 52 people died in floods in the district alone where many villages were submerged under more than three feet of water.
Early yesterday reports said 11 people were killed due to flooding in River Hunar in Chitral which divides Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Chitral District Coordination Officer Kamran Rehman told Arab News the melting of snow on mountain peaks triggered flash floods in Chitral. He said more than 100 families were affected by the flash floods.
A tropical cyclone, Yemyin, struck coastal areas in Balochistan and southern Sindh province last Tuesday and was followed by heavy rain.
Police said four more people, including a woman and her three children, were killed when their house collapsed in Machh in Balochistan early yesterday. Five other people were killed when they were swept away by heavy water and two others were crushed to death when the roof of their house caved in due to heavy rain in Bela district, local mayor Naseer Ahmed said.
Navy boats, helicopters and aircraft were taking items like food, tents, blankets and medicines to affected areas, including the coastal towns of Gwadar, Pasni and Ormara, Kurd said.
Improved weather yesterday had allowed the relief operation to get into full swing, Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani said.
“There are fears of another heavy spell of rain in coming days and we want to rush food and other relief goods to as many people as possible before any other calamity hits the province,” he told reporters.
Heavy rains have been forecast for some areas of Sindh during the next four days. According to the Meteorological Department, some areas of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan will receive heavy rains during the next 24 hours. Intermittent rains will continue for four days in Sindh, it said.
Some 731 people suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhea were brought to various hospitals in Karachi. Deputy Secretary at Sindh Health Department Dr. Shakeel Malik said 731 patients were brought to various hospitals in Karachi and 42 of them were hospitalized.
— Additional input from agencies
