One million affected as Pakistan floods kill 800

Devastating floods have affected one million people in Pakistan, the United Nations said today.

The floods have killed more than 800 people in the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929, officials said.

Most died in north-west Pakistan, while across the border in Afghanistan at least 60 were killed.

Several rivers burst their banks, washing away villages, roads and bridges.

Officials say the floods are the worst the region has experienced in more than 80 years.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the cost of damage from the floods was not clear.

Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to reach flood-hit areas.

Government official Lutfur Rehman said today that floodwaters were receding in the north-west, but rescuers were facing problems reaching affected people because of damage caused to roads and bridges.

The flooding capped an already deadly week in Pakistan.

A passenger jet crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad killing all 152 people on board on Wednesday.