Plea for help as rains hit aid efforts

FRESH rains lashed flood-hit Pakistan yesterday, hampering aid efforts and threatening to deepen a crisis affecting 15 million people in the country’s worst ever floods.

Helicopters were grounded in the northwest while rescuers rushed to evacuate families in the poor southern farming belt of Sindh, where officials were readying for a deluge that could burst the banks of the swollen Indus river.

New downpours hammered the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa yesterday, with experts predicting yet more rain to come, adding to the misery of the millions made homeless by the destructive floods.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited flood-hit areas of Sindh province, calling again for international aid as he said the disaster had spiralled beyond the government’s capacity. “Millions of people have suffered and still there is more rain and further losses are feared. I appeal to the world to help us, we are doing what we can,” said Gilani, urging those threatened by the “unprecedented” floods to move to safer spots.

Countries including Britain, China, Australia, France and the United States have pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid for victims of the nearly two-week disaster. The UN estimates at least 1,600 people have been killed by the floods that have ravaged the largely impoverished, insurgency-hit country, sweeping away entire villages.