ISLAMABAD: The death toll from devastating floods in Pakistan surged past 1,260 on Friday, authorities said, with four more planes carrying fresh supplies landing in the flood-ravaged South Asian country.
Pakistan is struggling to respond to the floods given their unprecedented magnitude. The government has said 33 million people – 15 percent of its population – have been affected. The United Nations has appealed for $160 million in aid to help tackle what it said was an “unprecedented climate catastrophe.”
On Friday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the death toll from the deluges had risen to 1,265, amid planes flying into Pakistan with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar.
“In continuation of humanitarian air bridge established between Pakistan and UAE, two relief flights scheduled for today were received at Nur Khan Air Base, Rawalpindi,” the Pakistani foreign office said on Friday.
“Total of 11 such relief flights from UAE were received carrying relief goods for the people affected by catastrophic floods.”
The second of the two humanitarian assistance flights from Qatar was received at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi Friday afternoon, according to the foreign office.
The humanitarian relief goods included food baskets, tents and personal hygiene kits, it said.
Meanwhile, the country’s best-known charity organization, the Edhi Foundation, warned that only a fraction of millions affected by the floods had been reached so far.
“Ninety percent of people are still awaiting any kind of assistance; the situation is serious, people are starving,” Faisal Edhi, head of the Edhi Foundation, told reporters on Friday.
“The situation is very bad, and it seems it will worsen,” he added.
Pakistani officials have said that early estimates put the damages from deadly floods at more than $10 billion.
