The number of people affected in recent floods in Pakistan rose above seven million, as authorities scrambled to provide relief goods and evacuate marooned people, the government said on Saturday. The floods, brought by heavy monsoon downpours which started at the end of August, have inundated vast areas of the southern province of Sindh.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in statement that "over seven million" have been affected by the deluge, which has flooded more than 2.4 million hectares of land and damaged more than 500,000 houses. NDMA said on Friday that around 5.74 million people had been affected.
The death toll in rain-related incidents and floods had also risen, to 342, and the number of injured to 633, the statement said. The United Nations is co-ordinating with Pakistan to provide emergency relief, while aid agencies have warned of the outbreak of water-borne diseases.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday cancelled a trip to the US where he was to attend a United Nations General Assembly session, in order to supervise rescue and relief efforts for flood-hit areas. The fresh disaster hit as people in Sindh province were struggling to recover from the 2010 floods that displaced 18 million people and killed some 2,000.
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