Monsoon slackens but flood deaths in Pakistan hit 1,100

THE death toll from massive floods in northwestern Pakistan rose to 1,100 yesterday as rescue workers struggled to save more than 27,000 people still trapped by the raging water.

The rescue effort was aided by a slackening of the monsoon rains that have caused the worst flooding in decades in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. But as flood waters started to recede, authorities began to understand the full scale of the disaster.

"Aerial monitoring is being conducted, and it has shown that whole villages have washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have washed away," said Latifur Rehman, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. "The destruction is massive."

The flooding, which the UN estimates has affected one million people nationwide, comes at a time when the Pakistani government is already grappling with a faltering economy and a war against the Taleban.

The 1,100 death toll from the flooding could go even higher since rescue workers have been unable to access certain areas, said Adnan Khan, a disaster management official.

Almost 700 people have drowned in the Peshawar valley, which includes the districts of Nowshera and Charsada, and 115 others are still missing.

The districts of Swat and Shangla have also been hit hard and have suffered more than 400 deaths, said Mujahid Khan, the head of rescue services for the Edhi Foundation, a private charity.

In Swat alone, the floods have destroyed more than 14,600 houses and 22 schools, said Mr Khan.

Authorities have deployed 43 military helicopters and more than 100 boats to try to rescue some 27,300 people still trapped by the floods, said Mr Rehman, the disaster management spokesman.

"All efforts are being used to rescue people stuck in inaccessible areas and all possible help is being provided to affected people," said Mr Rehman.

But some residents stepped up their criticism yesterday of the government's response, which is all important in area where many feel very distant from Islamabad.

"The flood has devastated us all, and I don't know where my family has gone," said Hakimullah Khan, a resident of Charsadda town who complained the government has not helped him search for his missing wife and three children.

The military deployed 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 20,700 people, said Khan, the disaster management official. However, some people like Sehar Ali Shah who were rescued complained that authorities didn't provide shelter that would allow them to stay until the floodwaters receded.

"My son drowned, but I don't see the government taking care of us," said Mr Shah after returning to his half-submerged house in the city of Nowshera. "The government has not managed an alternate place to shift us."

The flooding has also affected the central Pakistani province of Punjab, where troops rescued more than 1,400 people trapped by rising water, said Brigadier Ahmad Waqas.

"We have lost everything: our houses, our crops, cattle," said Ahmad Hasan at a government relief camp in Taunsa Sharif district. The threat of disease loomed as well as some evacuees arrived in camps with fever, diarrhoea and skin problems.

"There is now a real danger of the spread of waterborne diseases," said Shaharyar Bangash, the head of operations in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa for World Vision, an international humanitarian group.