Thousands flee as Kashmir flooding widens

Hundreds of thousands of people tried to escape flash flooding in Pakistan after having been warned to evacuate on Wednesday. The death toll from severe monsoon rains and floods in Pakistan and neighboring India has climbed to 457.

The Chenab River breached an embankment early on Wednesday after a warning the day before, said Ahmad Kamal, spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority. The breach was thought to be as wide as 91 meters, Pakistani Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Mohammad Asif told the country's Parliament on Wednesday. He had said on Tuesday that the breach could force nearly 700,000 out of their homes.

Worst since 2010

Five more districts could also be in danger of flooding, Kamal said.

The floods, which began in the Himalayan region of Kashmir between Pakistan and India on Sept 3, have flowed down to the plains. The deluge is the worst since 2010, when 1,700 people died in Pakistan.

Pakistani and Indian troops have been using boats and helicopters to drop food supplies to stranded families and evacuate victims. However, the challenge of the situation is growing. More than 1.5 million people are now affected. Rushing waters have destroyed the homes of thousands of families.

The floods triggered landslides in the Kashmir region, which is divided between the two neighbors, and caused much devastation in northern and eastern Pakistan.

Srinagar, the main city in India-controlled Kashmir, appeared in aerial photos as a giant, muddy lake with only the tops of inundated houses visible. Frightened survivors clung to treetops and waited for rescue helicopters.

Tempers were also running high. In one neighborhood, angry survivors heckled a former government minister and got into scuffles with some rescue workers as anxiety about thousands still missing or unaccounted for grew.

"They are asking for bribes to rescue us," said one man shaking with rage.

Rains washed away houses, bridges, communication equipment and crops. Pakistani and Indian troops say they have evacuated nearly 75,000 people.

Waist-deep water

Others have waded through waist-deep water to escape the floods, as women carried household items and children on their shoulders while others dragged their livestock along. Hundreds of others remain stranded on rooftops, waving for help at every passing helicopter.

"We are focusing more on women, elderly people and children," said a rescue official, Ahsan Ali, in the Jhang district.

"I have lost everything," said Haleema Bibi, 65, while weeping after she got off a boat. Her granddaughter was scheduled to get married in a few days, she said, and the dowry had been swept away. She appealed to rescuers to go back to her village again to retrieve her grandson, who was still stranded.

So far, 257 have died in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and at least 200 people have died in India-controlled Kashmir, officials said.