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Colonial FIrst State Flooding Hits Pakistani City, Five Die

Date: 18-Aug-06
Country: PAKISTAN

Weather officials said more heavy rain was expected in the southern city of Karachi over the next two days.

"We are getting reports of casualties in different areas but our ambulances can't move because of the flooded roads," said Rizwan Edhi, a senior official of the Edhi Trust, which runs the country's largest ambulance service.

Five people had been confirmed killed, he said.

The flooding in Pakistan's commercial capital stranded thousands of workers in their offices and in traffic jams.

"It is a chaotic situation in the city. Civic services have collapsed," Edhi said.

Considerable damage was also feared in the countryside.

"We are expecting a lot of damage in villages and low-lying areas in upper Sindh," said weather official Shaukat Awan, referring to the southern province of Sindh of which Karachi is capital.

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