(7 Sep 2014) LANDSLIDES AND FLASH FLOODS TRIGGERED BY HEAVY MONSOON RAINS HAVE KILLED NEARLY 300 PEOPLE IN NORTHERN INDIA AND PAKISTAN.
FIVE DAYS OF RAINS IN INDIAN-CONTROLLED KASHMIR HAVE LEFT AT LEAST 120 PEOPLE DEAD IN THE REGION'S WORST FLOODING IN MORE THAN FIVE DECADES.
THE RAINS HAD STOPPED ON SUNDAY AND THOUSANDS OF STATE POLICE AND ARMY RESCUE WORKERS FANNED OUT TO HELP WITH RELIEF AND RESCUE EFFORTS.
BUT OFFICIALS SAID THE SPREADING WATER FROM THE OVERFLOWED JHELUM RIVER WAS MOVING TO FAST TO ALLOW BOATS TO REACH STRANDED PEOPLE.
AND IN PAKISTAN, OFFICIALS SAY AT LEAST 103 PEOPLE HAVE DIED AND OVER 5,000 RESCUED SINCE THURSDAY IN THE PROVINCE OF PUNJAB.
ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE WAITED FOR RESCUERS IN TREES FOR NEARLY A DAY AS FLOODWATERS SURGED THROUGH THEIR VILLAGE.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ayaz Aslam, rescue 1122 officer:
"We have just evacuated five persons, who were just hanging over the trees, we have evacuated them after twenty hours and they were luckily survived."
PAKISTAN'S ARMED FORCES AND CIVILIAN RESCUERS HAVE MOUNTED A MASSIVE OPERATION USING HELICOPTERS AND BOATS TO GET VILLAGERS TO SAFETY, INCLUDING 95 RELIEF CAMPS.
PAKISTAN AND INDIA SUFFER WIDESPREAD FLOODING EACH YEAR DURING THE MONSOON SEASON, WHICH RUNS FROM JUNE THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
MATTHEW BURGOYNE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
