Monsoon claims hundreds of lives

Nearly 130 deaths have been reported in Pakistan since a flash flood began on Friday.

Spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster management Authority Ahmad Kamal said thousands of people had been made homeless after over 4,000 homes collapsed from flashfloods which began on Friday.

On Saturday, authorities were deploying helicopters and boats to evacuate people from affected areas to relief camps.

"We are dispatching tents and other relief items for those who have been affected because of rains and floods," Kamal said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently facing a storm of opposition in weeks-long protests demanding his resignation, said in a statement, "The government will leave no stone unturned to help the people in distress."

Flooding in India

In India, nearly 110 deaths have been reported. This figure includes nearly 30 people attending a wedding party whose bus was swept away by rising stream water.

Indian Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi has urged New Delhi to declare the crisis a "national calamity."

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah travelled to affected areas and expressed solidarity with people there. He told them the government would take all measures to provide necessary help in the "present hour of crisis."

At least 300 federal rescue workers have joined thousands of state police and soldiers to rescue tens of thousands of people stranded by washed out bridges and roads across the region.

With more flooding and rain forecast for the coming days, authorities fear the death toll may rise.

The disputed Kashmir region has been hit by its worst monsoon flooding in more than two decades, affecting power and telephone lines and clean drinking water supplies.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since independence from Britain in 1947.

sb/av (AP, PTI)