Ukraine in Arabic | India and Pakistan are suffering from severe floods
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Some of the worst flooding and mudslides in memory has hit northern India and parts of Pakistan, according to reports. The death toll, caused by monsoon rains, was reported as being more than 350 Monday as emergency responders in both countries struggled to reach stranded people, many of whom fled to treetops to keep from being swept away. Thousands of homes have been destroyed after the Jhelum and Chanab rivers swelled following last week’s heavy tropical rainfall.
In the Indian-administered zone the army has been transporting boats by air to evacuate people from the worst affected areas.
Stories are emerging of people being stranded for hours before being rescued by neighbors.
Some people have been airlifted to safety by emergency teams – yet even so there is anger at the authorities.
“The government should at least have sent boats to rescue us over the last three days. No one from the government has come to ask about us till now. There are no supplies of water, food or medicine,” said one man on board a plane sent to winch people from flooded areas.
In Pakistan it is thought the floods could be linked to the collapse of a mosque in Lahore which killed at least two dozen people on Tuesday.
Thousands of homes have been submerged, roads and power lines damaged, and thousands left without electricity and drinking water.
“We also feel the pain of the people of Indian-Occupied Kashmir and are ready to help them in whatever way possible,” a spokesperson for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered Sharif assistance in flood relief operations.
