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                                  Saturday 22 May 1999
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              Hundreds missing as cyclone hits Pakistan         [The Economic Times]

[India's No. 1KARACHI: Pakistan's navy sent rescue ships
              equipped with medical teams and divers to search
[Email]       for hundreds of people missing on Friday after a
              deadly cyclone shattered hundreds of villages on
Crossword     the Arabian Sea coast.
* Java
Version       Government officials say 700 people are missing
* Image       and feared drowned following Thursday's cyclone,
              packing winds of 270 kmph and causing tidal waves
              that submerged hundreds of small fishing
              villages.

              Residents from the area, many of whom spent the
              night outside in knee-deep water, say the death
              toll could be much higher. Some people said as
              many as 3,500 people are missing.

              But rescue workers were having difficulty
              reaching the cyclone hit villages because the
              roads leading to the area were under water, said
              residents in nearby villages that had escaped the
              cyclone. They say at least 100 fishermen were
              caught out on their boats when the cyclone hit.

              Pakistan navy divers will search for bodies. It
              is also setting up five separate emergency relief
              camps to treat victims, many of whom are believed
              to be suffering from exposure.

              A spokesman for the navy said four people were
              taken from the water by helicopter. He said they
              had been in the water throughout the night and
              morning.

              Three hundred soldiers were also deployed to the
              area, some 70 km east of Karachi. Karachi was
              spared the brunt of the cyclone when it changed
              direction and hit landfall east of the city.

              Bedraggled residents from the coastal villages
              reached higher ground early on Friday after
              spending the night searching for shelter from the
              lashing rains that delayed rescue efforts.

              ``People from the area are arriving and it sounds
              like the damage is tremendous, '' said Dr. Mumtaz
              Uqali, who was interviewed on telephone early on
              Friday from the cyclone damaged area of Thatta,
              80 km from Karachi.

              ``People are saying entire villages are missing,
              but the district administration is still trying
              to get there, so no one really knows,'' he said.

              The first priority for the rescuers will be to
              locate the missing and assess the damage, said an
[Previous]    army spokesman. A privately-run emergency
              service, Edhi Emergency Services, sent a
[Next]        helicopter to the area to try to assess the
              damage. (AP)
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