Pakistan appeals to world for flood help amid devastation

Pakistan is appealing for further international assistance after floods wreaked havoc across the country.

The US, UK, United Arab Emirates and others have contributed to a monsoon disaster appeal but much more funds are needed, an interior ministry official told the BBC.

More than 1,000 people have died and millions have been displaced since June, Salman Sufi said.

He said Pakistan's government was doing everything in its power to help people.

In the north-west of the country, thousands of people fled their homes after rivers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province burst their banks, causing powerful flash floods.

"The house which we built with years of hard work started sinking in front of our eyes," Junaid Khan, 23, told AFP news agency. "We sat on the side of the road and watched our dream house sinking."

The province of Sindh in the south-east of the country has also been badly affected, with thousands displaced from their homes.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Sufi said the country was in desperate need of more international support.

"Pakistan has been grappling with economic issues but now just when we were about to overcome them the monsoon disaster hit," he said.

Funding from a lot of development projects had been rerouted to the affected people, he added.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said 33 million people had been hit by the floods - about 15% of the country's population.

He said the losses caused by floods this season were comparable to those during the floods of 2010-11, said to be the worst on record.

Officials in the country blame climate change for the devastation.

But poor local government planning has also been cited as a factor that has exacerbated flooding situations in the past, with buildings often erected in areas prone to seasonal flooding.