Troops aid relief effort as Pakistan floods death toll hits 360

TROOPS in helicopters brought relief supplies to flood-swamped villages in south-western Pakistan yesterday as the nationwide death toll from a week of heavy rain and snow reached 360.

Hungry survivors, their homes and livestock swept away when a dam burst its banks three days ago, huddled on high ground in the worst-hit province of Baluchistan, where 1,000-1,500 people are missing.

Officials said a second, smaller dam collapsed elsewhere in the province yesterday, killing seven people, while scores more casualties from avalanches and landslides were reported in the north-west and the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

About 4,000 troops backed by helicopters, coastguard boats and C-130 transport planes hauled food, medicine and tents to the Pasni town area, close to where the 490ft-long Shadikor Dam burst on Thursday, sweeping people into the Arabian Sea. The Pakistan Red Crescent sent tents, blankets, tarpaulins and 40 tons of food.

The torrent of water left only empty land in its wake. Downstream from the dam, nine small villages - home to 800-900 people - were swept away. Provincial authorities say at least 200 have died in the flooding across Baluchistan, Pakistan’s poorest province.

Four medical camps have been set up around Pasni, about 1,180 miles south-west of the capital, Islamabad.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, week-long rains - the heaviest in years - and avalanches in the mountains have claimed scores of lives.

In the North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan, more than 100 people are confirmed to have died, said Akram Khan Durrani, the chief minister. Some houses were still buried by snow or landslides in the areas of Swat and Kohistan, he said.