International Shia News Agency

Major river overflows, as flooding inundates India, Pakistan

SHAFAQNA (International Shia News Association)- A massive flood across India and Pakistan that’s killed more than 450 people poured into the surrounding plains Wednesday, sending a major river over its banks and threatening hundreds of thousands more.

The Chenab River overflowed early Wednesday, threatening the nearby Pakistani district of Jhang. Officials have said that could force nearly 700,000 people there from their homes in the worst flood in the region in years.

Survivor Haleema Bibi, 65, sobbed as she climbed out of a boat in the district in the eastern Punjab province. Her granddaughter was to be married in the coming days but the floodwaters swept her dowry away. She appealed to the rescuers to go back to the village, saying her grandson was stranded there.

“I have lost everything,” Bibi cried out.

The flooding began earlier this month in Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan. It caused landslides and submerged much of the main city of Srinagar on the Indian-administered side. The water is now rushing out of the mountains of the Himalayan region, affecting communities downstream.

From the air, Srinagar looked like a giant, muddy lake, with row after row of rooftops peeking out of the murky water. Frightened survivors clung to tree tops and waited for rescue helicopters.

An Associated Press reporter there, trapped in his own home for four days, said rescue boats picked up relatives of army and government officials before saving stranded civilians.

Tempers frayed as residents grew increasingly anxious over the fate of missing loved ones. In one Srinagar neighbourhood, angry survivors heckled a former government minister and fought with rescue workers.

“They are asking for bribes to rescue us,” said one man, trembling with rage.

Officials said it was dangerous for rescue boats to reach some parts of the city.

“Our entire effort has been focused on ensuring that we have adequate assets to rescue people,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in an interview with CNN-IBN news channel.

The rains have washed away houses, bridges, communication equipment and crops. In a statement, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said that rescuers so far had evacuated more than 127,000 people. It said civil authorities and troops were using 15 helicopters and 574 boats move flood victims to safer places.

At least 257 people have died and another 461 have been injured in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the flooding, while 200 have been killed in India, officials say.

en.shafaqna.com

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