Floods rapidly Growing, 150 villages at risk!: Sindh

Floods in Sindh

Jafarabad Flood Rapids

Jacobabad: Due to flood,along Qabu Saeed Khan in Sindh, 150 villages are warned to leave. The contact of other cities is disconnected with Jacobabad from 3 days. People of Jacobabad, Jafarabad and other areas along Qabu Saeed Khan are warned to leave areas urgently. A special train to Karachi has been launched for the migrants. The city Shahdad Kot’s people had built embankments by their self for the safety from the flood. It has been noticed that the flood is rapidly entering the canal, risk for the Sukkur District. A 100 feet crack had appeared in previous days on Dadu Moro Road, which has been managed. Due to crack, the contact has been disconnected with other Districts. After declaring endangered Mandmangli & Mekarodhoro, people started migration even from these cities. Jamshoro, Hyderabad, & Latifabad’s people are being mostly supported. The Menarki & Sarjani embankments of Thatta are being monitored now, (according to DCO Manzur Shaikh).

16 People Dead by Gunshots in Quetta

QUETTA: Gunmen shot 16 people dead in two separate incidents in Quetta and Machh areas during the last 24 hours.

Banned outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The first incident took place in the Machh area, 75 kilometres southeast of Quetta on Friday night.

A group of 30-35 gunmen stopped a bus, offloaded passengers at gunpoint and shot ten of them dead. The bus was travelling to Quetta from the eastern city of Lahore.

In another incident, two assailants riding a motorbike killed six labourers in the provincial capital on Saturday.

On Friday evening, three rockets were fired at the house of Balochistan's Interior Secretary, Akbar Durrani. However, he remained unhurt.

At another city in Balochistan 9 people died even.

JAFARABAD: At least nine people died in two separate accidents in Jafarabad and Sibi districts of Balochisan on late Saturday night. The first accident took place in Sibi when a speeding wagon ran over a group of flood victims sleeping by a roadside, killing three people, including two women.

Ban Ki Moon's Visit to Pakistan to visit flood-hit areas

ISLAMABAD: UN chief Ban Ki-moon due in Islamabad today (Saturday) to visit areas devastated by the country’s worst floods in history and to hold talks on relief efforts, the foreign ministry said.

“The UN secretary general will arrive in Islamabad late on Saturday,” foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said.

“He will discuss relief efforts with government leaders on Sunday and visit flood-devastated areas the same day,” the spokesman added.

Basit confirmed that Ban’s one-day visit will take place two days ahead of one by US Senator John Kerry.

Welcoming the visits, President Asif Ali Zardari had said the “damage to life, property, livestock and infrastructure was so huge that it could be faced only with the concerted efforts of all the people of Pakistan with the support and assistance of the international community,” his spokesman said. AGENCIES

Cholera Disease Confirmed in Pakistan

The worst floods in Pakistan's history washed out independence day celebrations Saturday, as the U.N. confirmed the waterborne disease cholera has been found in the disaster zone.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gelani said Saturday 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country's history as the UN confirmed the first cholera case.

Independence day celebrations were cancelled as floods continued to bring misery to millions and aid agencies warned of a "second wave" of deaths from disease.

"The floods affected some 20 million people, destroyed standing crops and food storages worth billions of dollars, causing colossal loss to national economy,"Gelani said in a televised address. "I would appeal to the world community to extend a helping hand to fight this calamity."

The United Nations has appealed for 460 million dollars to deal with the immediate aftermath of the floods, but charities say the figure falls far short of what is needed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday to discuss the relief efforts and visit flood-hit areas.

"Outbreak of epidemics in the flood-hit areas is a serious threat, which can further compound the already grave situation," Gilani added, as the UN confirmed the country's first cholera case in Mingora, in the northwestern district of Swat.

Pakistan's chief meteorological official, Arif Mehmood, said no new wave of flooding was expected in the next couple of days.

But charities said relief for those affected by the worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history was lagging far behind what was needed.

"Clearly at this point in time the overall relief effort cannot keep pace with the overall scale of the emergency."

Humanitarian agencies in Pakistan were monitoring the risk of "a second wave of deaths induced by the floods in the shape of water-borne diseases", de Maio said.

Celebrations marking the anniversary Saturday of Pakistan's independence from British colonial rule were scrapped by President Asif Ali Zardari, who has come under fire for pressing on with a trip to Europe last week despite the emergency.

In his independence day message, Zardari said: "The best way to celebrate this day is to reach out to the victims of the natural disaster, heal their wounds and help them to help themselves."

"I salute the courage and heroism of flood victims and assure them that the government will do everything possible to alleviate their suffering."

However with up to two million people requiring shelter and six million depending on humanitarian assistance, troops distributed national flags among the people in the flood-hit northwestern town of Nowshera.

"We lost our houses and everything in the floods. We urgently need food and medicines and not the flags," Rasul Khan, 80, told AFP.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Zardari to express solidarity, even as US security operations continued in the northwestern tribal belt. A missile fired from a US drone on a rebel compound in North Waziristan killed 13 militants on Saturday, according to local security officials.

"The people and government of the United States are with the people of Pakistan in these difficult times," an official government statement quoted Clinton as saying.

The United Nations believes 1,600 people have died in the disaster, while Islamabad has confirmed 1,343 deaths.

Ban on Sunday was expected to "see for himself the flood-affected areas (and) demonstrate the support of the UN and the international community to the government and people of Pakistan," UN spokeswoman Ishrat Rizvi told AFP.

Meanwhile 90 percent of the 500,000 residents of Jacobabad left for safer ground after authorities warned that flood waters might deluge the southwestern city, Provincial Agriculture Minister Jam SaifUllah Dharejo told AFP.