Pandy
02-11-2005, 03:40 AM
QUETTA, Pakistan - More than 400 people are missing in a remote area of southwestern Pakistan after heavy rains caused a large dam to burst, sweeping villagers into the Arabian Sea, a provincial official said Friday.
At least 20 people were confirmed dead after the 485-foot-long Shakidor Dam burst late Thursday near Pasni, a remote village in Baluchistan province. Between 400 and 500 people are still unaccounted for, said provincial Cabinet minister Sher Jan Baluch.
"The army has started rescue operations to try to save as many lives as possible," said Baluch. He said he feared some of the missing may have been swept into the sea, though others might be taking shelter in homes or surrounding areas.
More than 1,200 villagers have already been pulled alive from the waters by troops, helicopters and boats sent to the area, said Mudasser Butt, an army spokesman in Quetta.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the top spokesman for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, refused to speculate on how many people may have died. Witnesses described seeing trucks and tankers swept out to sea.
"I can only say that troops have started the rescue work ... and they are trying to save the lives of people," Sultan said.
The Shakidor dam was built in 2003 to help with irrigation in the area. But it was unable to cope with more than a week of heavy rains. Telephone lines, roads and eight bridges in the area were also damaged, Butt said. Pasni is about 400 miles south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
Pakistan has been hit by more than a week of rain and snow, which in some parts of the country were the heaviest in seven years, said Qamar-uz Zaman Chaudhry, the head of the nation's meteorological department. He said more severe weather was expected in the next two days.
Rizwan Edhi, a spokesman for the private Edhi Foundation, which provides nationwide emergency relief, said his group had sent ambulances and boats to the flooded areas.
Meanwhile, at least two people were killed elsewhere in Baluchistan when floodwaters overturned their bus early Friday, officials said. Eighteen other people were reported missing in the accident.
At least three soldiers were missing and feared dead after an avalanche buried their vehicles on a mountain road in northwestern Pakistan early Friday, an army official said on condition of anonymity.
The soldiers were on their way to Terrah, a tribal region in North West Frontier Province, when the incident occurred. He had no other details and Sultan was not immediately available for comment.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050211/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_rain_deaths
At least 20 people were confirmed dead after the 485-foot-long Shakidor Dam burst late Thursday near Pasni, a remote village in Baluchistan province. Between 400 and 500 people are still unaccounted for, said provincial Cabinet minister Sher Jan Baluch.
"The army has started rescue operations to try to save as many lives as possible," said Baluch. He said he feared some of the missing may have been swept into the sea, though others might be taking shelter in homes or surrounding areas.
More than 1,200 villagers have already been pulled alive from the waters by troops, helicopters and boats sent to the area, said Mudasser Butt, an army spokesman in Quetta.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the top spokesman for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, refused to speculate on how many people may have died. Witnesses described seeing trucks and tankers swept out to sea.
"I can only say that troops have started the rescue work ... and they are trying to save the lives of people," Sultan said.
The Shakidor dam was built in 2003 to help with irrigation in the area. But it was unable to cope with more than a week of heavy rains. Telephone lines, roads and eight bridges in the area were also damaged, Butt said. Pasni is about 400 miles south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
Pakistan has been hit by more than a week of rain and snow, which in some parts of the country were the heaviest in seven years, said Qamar-uz Zaman Chaudhry, the head of the nation's meteorological department. He said more severe weather was expected in the next two days.
Rizwan Edhi, a spokesman for the private Edhi Foundation, which provides nationwide emergency relief, said his group had sent ambulances and boats to the flooded areas.
Meanwhile, at least two people were killed elsewhere in Baluchistan when floodwaters overturned their bus early Friday, officials said. Eighteen other people were reported missing in the accident.
At least three soldiers were missing and feared dead after an avalanche buried their vehicles on a mountain road in northwestern Pakistan early Friday, an army official said on condition of anonymity.
The soldiers were on their way to Terrah, a tribal region in North West Frontier Province, when the incident occurred. He had no other details and Sultan was not immediately available for comment.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050211/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_rain_deaths