Karachi gets aid after storm deaths

KARACHI (AFP) - Trucks carrying aid rolled into Karachi on Monday after violent storms and flooding killed at least 228 people in the southern Pakistani port city, officials said.

Authorities have launched a major relief operation in affected areas of the sprawling city following Saturday's devastating rain and strong winds, Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal said.

Relief camps have been set up in the slum area of Gadap where more than 500 shanty homes were destroyed, while two truck-loads of aid have been dispatched, Kamal added.

President Pervez Musharraf expressed grief over the casualties from the storm and ordered provincial and city authorities to take "immediate steps to tackle the situation", state media reported.

Most of the casualties were caused when the roofs and walls of shanty homes collapsed. Several people were also crushed to death under falling trees and billboards.

Provincial health minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said late Sunday that 228 people had been killed and another 200 injured, mostly in the sprawling suburbs of Karachi, which has a population of more than 12 million.

Private Aaj Television put the death toll at 235.

Local media criticised Karachi authorities for allowing oversized billboards with weak foundations in congested areas. Provincial governor Ishratul Ebad has ordered the removal of illegal hoardings, state media said.

Power remained suspended in several parts of the city, triggering riots. Angry mobs torched two private cars, attacked power company vehicles and burned tyres to block traffic in protest, residents said.

Karachi has suffered its worst electrical supply problems in memory over the past month.

Meanwhile at least 10 fishermen have been missing since Saturday off Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast, said Saami Memon, spokesman for a local fishermen's group.

Memon said the storm had destroyed hundreds of houses in the coastal areas of Thatta and Badin.

The meteorological office has forecast more rain this week. Northern Pakistan including the capital Islamabad was hit by heavy downpours early Monday.

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