Ethiopia saves 6,000 marooned by devastating floods

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 17 (Reuters) Rescuers with helicopters and speedboats said today they had saved some 6,000 people stranded by floods in Ethiopia where overflowing rivers have killed around 900 people and marooned many more.

Helicopters were dispatched to remote areas in the south, where the Omo River burst its banks on Sunday killing at least 364 people, using ropes to save thousands of mainly local herders cut off by the waters, an airforce officer told Reuters.

Thousands remain stranded throughout the Horn of Africa nation, desperate for food and shelter. Officials and aid workers fear the number of dead and homeless could be much higher due to the inaccessibility of the regions worst affected.

The total death toll so far is feared to be around 870.

''Rescue operations are still continuing, and people who have been marooned by the floods are being evacuated to safe areas,'' said Simon Macahele, director general of the state-run Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC).

''Some six thousand people have been rescued from the (Omo) flood area.'' Africa's second most populous nation, Ethiopia, has appealed for international aid to help overwhelmed emergency services.

After suffering from a drought last year, heavy rains have been battering the country in recent weeks.

Floods typically happen in lowland areas after rains in the June-August rainy season drench the highlands.

But the situation has been exacerbated by land cultivation, deforestation and overgrazing, aid workers say.

A joint statement by the Ministries of Mines, Information and Water resources warned that more rivers in the south, east, west and north were overflowing. It added that Ethiopia's major dams could burst ''creating catastrophe.'' In the east, the Dechatu river burst its banks last week, killing 254 and leaving 250 missing, feared dead in Dire Dawa, 525 km (324 miles) east of the capital Addis Ababa.

As well as the Dechatu and Omo rivers, officials said the Awash River, some 300 km (190 miles) east of Addis, had burst its banks, leading to the evacuation of 7,000 people.

The Awash valley is home to three major sugar estates.

REUTERS PB KN1718