PAKISTAN: Floods displace thousands in three provinces

LAHORE, 16 August 2006 (IRIN) - Monsoon flooding has forced hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes in Pakistan's North West Frontier (NWFP), Punjab and Balochistan provinces, officials say.

The floods had killed at least 230 people, submerged 1,000 villages and ruined tens of thousands of hectares of crops.

On Tuesday seven people, including four members of one family, were killed by flash flooding in the remote Kohistan District of NWFP. Police said that flooding caused by torrential rain had swept the victims away in the village of Goshali Jalkot. It had also damaged six shops and two houses.

Many deaths had been caused by houses collapsing, rising water levels in rivers and drains and landslides, according to reports.

Mansehra District, still recovering from the massive earthquake that struck the region on 8 October last year, had been one of the worst affected areas, with at least 20 deaths reported. Local people said that soil left unstable following the quake had been contributing to the number of landslides.

"This year the situation has been very bad because there have been so many flash floods caused by the rains," Asif Iqbal Khan, NWFP's Minister for Information, said.

The government was concerned about disease in the aftermath of the flood and was taking steps to avert epidemics, Khan said.

Vaccination drives for people and their livestock were under way in NWFP and the Punjab, he said.