Pakistan is facing a “major humanitarian crisis” with up to two-and-a-half million people hit by the worst flooding in 80 years a United Nations official has said. In Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, one of the worst-hit provinces, an aerial survey showed dozens of villages had been simply washed away, 2 August 2010. AFP / GETTY IMAGES

By Ben Farmer in Kabul and Khalid Khan in Peshawar
02 Aug 2010 7:00PM BST Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed 1,500 and officials fear the toll may double as rescuers reach remote, cut off regions of the North West. Thousands remained trapped, many on rooftops, with dwindling food and clean water as medical teams tried to prevent deadly outbreaks of cholera and malaria. Bridges, roads and hundreds of houses have been washed away by the raging floodwaters and weather forecasters have predicted more rain. The flooding has been worst in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, formerly the North West Frontier, which has already seen a million refugees flee fighting in Swat between the Pakistan military and Islamist militants. As exhausted victims criticised the government for doing too little, charities linked to Islamist extremists were reported to be filling the gap, offering food and shelter. The Red Cross estimated 2.5 million had been affected across Pakistan. Local officials said 1.5 million people had been made homeless in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Charsadda, Nowshera, Swat and Shangla were the worst affected districts and the ultimate scale of the devastation may take ten days to emerge. Ahmed Warsame, head of the UN refugee agency in Peshawar, told The Daily Telegraph disease was now expected. He said: “It’s quite likely with the water still there, diseases like cholera may happen. We are also quite worried about malaria. “It’s a major humanitarian crisis.” Syed Zahir Ali Shah, the provincial health minister, estimated about 100,000 people, mostly children, were already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhoea. An aid worker for Save the Children in the Swat Valley said the infrastructure was destroyed and wells and springs poisoned by floodwater. He said: “The main road up the valley has been completely washed away as if it had never been there. “In the next few days people may run out of food and there’s no clean water for them.” The hotel resort of Kalam containing 2,000 stranded Pakistani tourists was still cut off by road and expected to be particularly badly hit. … 

Pakistan facing ‘major humanitarian crisis’ after floods hit 2.5 million