Pakistan Flood Death Toll Rises Above 800

(CBS/AP)  A regional minister says the death toll in floods that have lashed Pakistan has risen above 800.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province in Pakistan's northwest, said Saturday that the death reports have come in from districts around the region this past week.

Deluged roads and damaged bridges are hampering rescuers from reaching thousands of flood victims, and fears of disease are rising as some evacuees showed signs of diarrhea, fever and other illnesses.

"There are very bad conditions," said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the Nowshera area. "They have no water, no food."

Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try reaching flood-hit areas, the U.N. said. It reported that thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged.

The destruction is slowing the rescue effort, said Luther Rehman, a government official in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, the northwest province. Floodwaters were receding in some areas there, he said.

"Our priority is to transport flood-affected people to safer places. We are carrying out this rescue operation despite limited resources," he said, adding they needed more helicopters and boats.

The U.N. estimated Saturday that some 1 million people were affected, including hundreds of thousands stranded in remote villages.

The northwest has been the hardest hit province in the extraordinary flooding caused by the monsoon rains. It was the worst flooding in the region since 1929.

TV footage showed people clinging to fences and to each other as water gushed over their heads. Scores of men, women and children sat on roofs.

A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhea and others had marks appearing on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.

"Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough," Jaa told The Associated Press.

The flooding capped an already deadly week in Pakistan. , and bad weather is suspected to have played a role.

[Simifanene]

Now is the time for our country to show whom we really are. Bush, Cheney and their henchmen left office with the middle east in flame. Bush's leadership left the whole world wondering who we we're? Bush empowered Alkaida with his orders to torture, (I mean enhanced interrogatio, right Cheney?). For eight years the only news the Pakistani's saw about Amberica, was the images of Abu Grey, Quantamo, and our soldiers putting black hoods upon civilians as they we're dragged out of their homes in front of their children. Foolish, costly tactics, that has only served Alkaida's recruitment. We're American's that protect, save, cure, feed, build, invent and help the weak when they've fallen. It's time to divirt out troops from Afghanastan in to helping the Pakistani's save the ten's of thousands more that are going to die, from this floods deadly after effects. Starvation, disease & lack of water can be overcome if we just send our helicopter's, red cross, and emergency supplies to these desperate people. Send our troops in uniform, dropping tents, food, medical supplies. Let the whole world see our troops evacuating the injured as we help their families with all of our power. Food drops, water drops, tents, medical supplies, and all of our power to save as many of them as we can will do a thousand time more than the bombs and bullets of war. Help these people and we help ourselves more than them.

[kmrunner122]

Despite their suffering, I hope we won't be sending aid money over there. If they have enough money for a big army and nuclear program, they have enough money to take care of this.

[Cyber998]

Holy cr@p, now that's a real environmental disaster! My thoughts go out to the poor people caught up in this. No doubt though the story will be forgotten about in a couple of hours, replaced with another story exaggerating our "catastrophic" oil spill. And people wonder why the rest of the world call America ignorant.

[Overruled1]

by Cyber998 July 31, 2010 12:43 PM EDT

Holy cr@p, now that's a real environmental disaster........................................ And people wonder why the rest of the world call America ignorant.
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I could give a kkrap what the rest of the world thinks of the US. Whats' important is keeping our leaders in line with the constitution. The very same constitution it seems has been violated by successive presidents from Truman to today,(Pentagon Papers, Wikileaks on Afghanistan).
Whats' important is rebuilding our economy and getting our troops home ASAP
Furthermore, our people have had far too much good will toward foreign nations and its time to turn to our own salvation.
Too much money is going out of the country for whatever reasons and must reverse course or we are living in a time bomb.

As for Pakistan, yes very sad to see people die, let their intelligence take care of them the backstabbers.