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Death toll in floods in southern Pakistan climbs to 70
Karachi, July 28: Three rescue workers and a newspaper reporter were missing in floods in southern Pakistan that have killed 70 people and left thousands of others homeless, relief officials said today.
Karachi, July 28: Three rescue workers and a newspaper reporter were missing in floods in southern Pakistan that have killed 70 people and left thousands of others homeless, relief officials said today.
Heavy monsoon rains have been lashing parts of southern Sindh province since Thursday.
Seventy people have died in Sindh since the rains began, said Ali Nawaz Mallah, a provincial government relief official. An emergency has been declared in the worst-hit districts of Badin, Thatta and Tharparkar, where most of the casualties occurred.
Eleven people were reported missing on Sunday, said Salahuddin Haider, a Sindh government spokesman. An official of the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest emergency relief group, two other rescue workers and a local reporter traveling with them went missing yesterday, said Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of the organization.
"There has been no communication with them for the past 22 hours," Edhi said. It was not clear whether they were among the 11 reported officially missing.
The missing relief worker, Faisal Edhi, was traveling in a boat to visit food relief centers set up by the foundation in Badin. Faisal Edhi is the son of the organization's chief. "I fear they may have drowned," Abdul Sattar Edhi said.
An emergency was declared in the three districts, where monsoon rains triggered floods that damaged thousands of homes and crops including rice and cotton fields.
Sindh Gov Ishrad Al-Ibad set up a relief fund of USD 80,000 yesterday to help thousands of villagers made homeless by the flooding.
Bureau Report
Seventy people have died in Sindh since the rains began, said Ali Nawaz Mallah, a provincial government relief official. An emergency has been declared in the worst-hit districts of Badin, Thatta and Tharparkar, where most of the casualties occurred.
Eleven people were reported missing on Sunday, said Salahuddin Haider, a Sindh government spokesman. An official of the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest emergency relief group, two other rescue workers and a local reporter traveling with them went missing yesterday, said Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of the organization.
"There has been no communication with them for the past 22 hours," Edhi said. It was not clear whether they were among the 11 reported officially missing.
The missing relief worker, Faisal Edhi, was traveling in a boat to visit food relief centers set up by the foundation in Badin. Faisal Edhi is the son of the organization's chief. "I fear they may have drowned," Abdul Sattar Edhi said.
An emergency was declared in the three districts, where monsoon rains triggered floods that damaged thousands of homes and crops including rice and cotton fields.
Sindh Gov Ishrad Al-Ibad set up a relief fund of USD 80,000 yesterday to help thousands of villagers made homeless by the flooding.
Bureau Report