Thirsty families scoop up pools in Basra streets

DESPERATE families were scooping up puddles from the war-torn streets of Basra yesterday as a chronic water shortage worsened their plight.

An eyewitness said: "People were gathering water from the streets with whatever they could find the situation looked desperate. I saw families scooping up water in buckets from roadside puddles and ditches from the storms the night before.

"Others were pouring it into wheelbarrows and whatever they could find to get it home. On one street I saw what looked like a burst water pipe with people scrambling all over it trying to fill buckets and bowls. This is clearly becoming a very serious problem that will worsen by the hour until more supplies are restored."

The pitiful clamour for drinking water increased the pressure on coalition commanders anxious to get aid into Basra. Desert Rats of Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade want to purge the city of the pro-Saddam Ba'ath Party and Iraqi troops to open it to relief convoys.

However, British Iraqi Freedom chiefs are also anxious not to get drawn into bloody street fighting which poses a higher risk of Allied casualties.

The Red Cross confirmed yesterday that drinking water in Basra had been partially reconnected by a 16-man specialist team.

But around 60% of the city remained without supplies and the crisis could worsen as spring temperatures begin to rise.

Pumping stations vital to the city's water network have been knocked out in recent days.

Fears were mounting of a major outbreak of disease following reports that many civilians had now resorted to drinking from the River Tigris.