Boats, helicopters help Pakistanis stuck in flood

KARACHI, July 18 (Reuters) Pakistani rescue workers are using boats to reach to hundreds of people still stranded in the country's south after severe flooding, while army helicopters are trying to evacuate them, officials said today.

Huge swathes of the Pakistani south have been inundated for weeks, initially by a cyclone that dumped torrential rain across the region on June 26, then by swollen rivers flowing down from the north.

More than 2.2 million people have been affected in 6,400 villages in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, while at least 280 people have been killed in the two provinces.

''In some areas, people are still stranded, and we are sending them food with boats,'' said Syed Anwar Haider, relief commissioner for Sindh province.

According to the Pakistan army, more than 5,000 people were still stranded on roads and embankments in the province, and helicopters were trying to evacuate them.

But Haider said some people in the affected areas were unwilling to leave.

''These areas are hit every year, and the residents move out temporarily and come back when the water recedes,'' he said.

''They prefer sitting on the embankments to being evacuated.'' The situation in neighbouring Baluchistan province is improving, with most road links now restored.

''We're done with rescue and relief and have now moved to rehabilitation,'' said Baluchistan relief commissioner Khuda Baksh Baloch.

''Nobody is now stranded in the province, and we are now assessing the damage ... This process will be completed in the first week of August,'' he said.

Baloch said the government was setting up hundreds of camps to provide shelter, while also arranging food supplies.

The harsh weather has also affected Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India, and more than 770 people have been killed across the region in recent weeks.

Foreign assistance worth 6.2 million dollars has already been pledged for relief work.

The seasonal rain is vital for the region's agriculture and economy. It also brings welcome relief after many hot, dry months, but every year the rains kill hundreds of people.

REUTERS SM HS1704