Thirty-five feared dead in Pakistani flash floods

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 5 (Reuters) At least 35 people are feared to have been killed in flash floods in northwestern Pakistan today, a senior provincial official said.

In the past two weeks, scores of people have died in floods caused by monsoon rains as far apart as the southern port of Karachi and the high northern mountains.

''Thirty-five people were swept away by a flash flood in Mardan and we have recovered four bodies so far,'' said Badshah Wazir, the top security official in North West Frontier Province.

Mr Mardan, about 48 km west of the province's main city of Peshawar, was the worst affected and the floodwaters in the area were the highest so far, Mr Wazir said.

Officials say people living in NWFP and Pakistani Kashmir, hit by a devastating earthquake last year, are particularly vulnerable to rains and landslides.

Landslides since last week have blocked transport links in the Neelum Valley in Kashmir and between Mansehra and Balakot in NWFP, making it difficult for people to move to safer locations.

On Thursday, 16 people were killed in the Shinkiari area of Mansehra district of NWFP because of landslides and flooding.

REUTERS SHB RK2126