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France 24
France 24
World
Sonia GHEZALI

Pakistani authorities battle to stop biggest lake overflowing after floods

Women carry belongings salvaged from their flooded home after monsoon rains, in the Qambar Shahdadkot district of Sindh Province, of Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. © Fareed Khan, AP

One third of Pakistan has been engulfed by flooding. Pakistani authorities are battling to stop their biggest lake from overflowing. FRANCE 24's Shazaib Wahlah and Sonia Ghezali report from Sindh province.

Hundreds of villages in Pakistan are now underwater. More than 1,300 people have died as a result of the flooding, the majority of them women and children, with a further 33 million people affected by the rising waters.

Rescuers in Sindh province are trying to help locals still stuck in towns in the southern district of Dadu. The boats fill up fast with people seeking refuge. 

"This is the fifth day we've been rescuing people here, taking them to safe places," rescuer Salman Naseer explained as his motor boat powered down what used to be a busy market on the main highway. He is worried because the water keeps on rising. 

"We never imagined that there could be this much water," said local Naweed Ali. "Initially, there was rain and the city got waterlogged and then came the river floods."

Most families have been evacuated but many locals are afraid that the belongings they left behind will be looted. Some men are still staying in their houses to protect their families' possessions because, Ali explained, "in the night thieves come on boats and they steal from abandoned houses".

People living in villages near Lake Manchar have been told to evacuate. Many of them are afraid. "When we look at the water level and the floodgate our hearts stop," lamented a man from one of the surrounding villages. "This is not water – this is a bomb waiting to explode." 

Click on the player above to watch the video in full. 

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