Troops and civilians dug through mud and debris in a huge rescue operation yesterday after a cyclone ripped across southern Pakistan killing around 225 people and leaving thousands homeless, rescue workers said.
The cyclone caused massive destruction in Thatta, Badin and Ketty Bandar districts where at least 600 villages were seriously affected and there was vast damage to rice and sugar cane crops and property, officials said.
Many villages were left deluged by mud and water, with bodies strewn among the debris of collapsed homes, amid fears the death toll could rise as rescue workers pull out the dead from the mud-caked rubble.
The authorities have set up two camps in Chaur Jamali, housing about 8,000 people hit by the storm, mainly poor farmers and fishermen who have lost everything.
Abid Hussain, in charge of the government's emergency cell in this major coastal town, 155 kilometres southeast of Karachi said early yesterday: "We confirm 150 deaths."
At least 86 bodies had been recovered from the worst-affected towns of Jati and Raj Malik in Thatta district while another 28 died in Badin area.
Dozens more were reported dead in smaller towns and villages, he said.
But rescue workers and locals put the death toll at some 225 dead and said thousands had been uprooted since the cyclone lashed the coastal regions on Thursday.
"We have unconfirmed reports of hundreds missing but the picture will only be cleared once the rescue work is over," said Sindh governor Moeenuddin Haider.
Witnesses said more bodies were found washed up on the shore and others were dug out of the mud by army and navy personnel as the floodwaters receded.
The military was making air drops of food parcels to those stranded by the floodwaters, cut off from any other help, witnesses said.