February 13, 2005 - 7:15 PM

Pakistan steps up flood rescue efforts

By Shahid Gul Yusufzai

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan has stepped up search and rescue operations for tens of thousands affected by flash floods after
the heaviest rains in the country in two decades, in which close to 300 people have been killed.

Army and navy helicopters on Sunday scoured the area affected by a dam burst near the coastal town of Pasni where at least 87 people
were killed and up to 2,000 went missing.

More than 20,000 people have been affected by subsequent flooding in Pasni, about 800 km (500 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of
southwestern Baluchistan province.

Baluchistan provincial government spokesman Raziq Bugti said thousands of soldiers were ferrying people to safety across the Pasni
district where two more small dams burst late on Saturday, flooding about 20 villages.

"More than 200 people have been killed in Baluchistan alone," he said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on state television the government has rushed blankets, tents and other relief goods to villages near
Pasni while President Pervez Musharraf, who personally toured the area, announced financial compensation.

The unusually heavy rain and snow has hammered other parts of Pakistan as well.

In mountainous Kohistan district in northern Pakistan, four houses were crushed by an avalanche killing at least 16 people while as many
were believed to be still missing, Rao Amin Hashim, deputy inspector general of police in the region, told Reuters.

Late on Saturday, four people were killed in a village in Abbottabad district, near Islamabad, due to a landslide and a roof collapsed on a
group of women in a village in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) killing five of them immediately.

"The situation is extremely bad but there is a lot of confusion about casualties," an emergency relief coordinator said in Islamabad.

"We are still getting reports but it is hard to confirm them because most of the areas are either very remote or link roads are closed," said
the official who asked not to be named.

Avalanches, flash floods and roof collapses have wrought havoc in the mountainous north and northwest Pakistan over the past week and
snowdrifts have blocked roads through the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges.

The incessant rain and snow has triggered avalanches in mountainous areas of nearby parts of Afghanistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir
as well.

Weather officials said rain had abated in parts of Pakistan on Sunday but warned Baluchistan and the northern areas would get more rain
and snow for at least two days.