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Pak govt step up efforts to prevent disease in flood-hit areas
Karachi, Aug 02: Authorities stepped up efforts to prevent an outbreak of disease in parts of southern Pakistan wracked by floods, as the death toll from monsoon rains reached 215 today, officials said.
Karachi, Aug 02: Authorities stepped up efforts to prevent an outbreak of disease in parts of southern Pakistan wracked by floods, as the death toll from monsoon rains reached 215 today, officials said.
At least 13 more bodies have been recovered since yesterday in southern Sindh province, said Ghulam Hussain Abbasi, a government relief official speaking from one of the worst-hit districts of Badin.
Most of the dead are in the hard-hit districts of Badin, Thatta and Tharparkar, Abbasi said. In all, 146 people have been killed in Sindh province.
Nine of the bodies were retrieved in Badin, stuck in bushes or soggy ground and only revealed as flood waters receded, abbasi said.
"There are more bodies but the problem is we cannot reach them," he said. "Boats cannot move in shallow water and we have few trucks that can drive in the slush."
Rescue workers were wading through shallow water looking for bodies. Many roads in the area have been washed away by floods.
Decomposing carcasses of cattle were strewn in the flooded areas, raising fears of water contamination, said Salahuddin Haider, a spokesman for the Sindh government.
"We have geared up efforts to vaccinate people in relief camps against malaria, cholera and typhoid," he said.
Some 94,000 people have taken shelter in 290 relief camps in the three districts, where relief agencies are providing them food, medical treatment and drinking water. Fresh supplies of tents and blankets were taken to the camps yesterday.
Bureau Report
Most of the dead are in the hard-hit districts of Badin, Thatta and Tharparkar, Abbasi said. In all, 146 people have been killed in Sindh province.
Nine of the bodies were retrieved in Badin, stuck in bushes or soggy ground and only revealed as flood waters receded, abbasi said.
"There are more bodies but the problem is we cannot reach them," he said. "Boats cannot move in shallow water and we have few trucks that can drive in the slush."
Rescue workers were wading through shallow water looking for bodies. Many roads in the area have been washed away by floods.
Decomposing carcasses of cattle were strewn in the flooded areas, raising fears of water contamination, said Salahuddin Haider, a spokesman for the Sindh government.
"We have geared up efforts to vaccinate people in relief camps against malaria, cholera and typhoid," he said.
Some 94,000 people have taken shelter in 290 relief camps in the three districts, where relief agencies are providing them food, medical treatment and drinking water. Fresh supplies of tents and blankets were taken to the camps yesterday.
Bureau Report