Death toll tops 400
Death toll tops 400
Thousands still stranded despite fanatic rescue efforts
Emergency workers yesterday battled to reach hundreds of thousands of people marooned by floods in India and Pakistan that have claimed more than 400 lives, as anger grew over the speed of the rescue effort.
The army said it was airlifting boats to the worst-hit areas of Indian Kashmir, where whole villages have been submerged and an estimated 400,000 people are stranded in the region's worst flooding for half a century.
"The situation in Kashmir Valley is still very grim, it is quite critical," said Rajesh Kumar, police Inspector General of the Jammu region in India's Jammu and Kashmir state.
"I don't know how many exactly, but there are many stuck in neck-deep water and need help as soon as possible," he told AFP.
But with large parts of the state -- including the capital Srinagar -- underwater, rescuers were struggling to find enough vessels to ferry stranded people to safety.
The home ministry said over 260 boats have been deployed, while the army said 100 were being airlifted from New Delhi.
Indian authorities said the death toll from the floods was around 200 people. Some 400,000 people remain stranded mainly in Srinagar and south Kashmir, the Press trust of India news agency quoted local officials as saying.
Some water and electricity lines have been restored in areas that were less severely affected, officials there said.
In neighbouring Pakistan the number of dead stood at 231, with most killed in Punjab province, an official said.
Thousands of troops, police and other emergency personnel have been deployed in both countries to deliver drinking water, blankets and other relief supplies.