Pakistan pleads for help as disaster worsens
Updated
Desperate: Flood survivors try to catch food bags being dropped from an army helicopter in Lal Pir (AFP: Arif Ali)
Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is appealing for urgent international help for 15 million people affected by the country's record-breaking floods.
Mr Gilani has met flood victims and rescue teams in the city of Sukkur and is pleading for international help as the disaster worsens.
Up to 1 million people have been evacuated from rural areas in the southern province of Sindh, but many do not have enough food or clean water.
Some angry flood survivors threw rocks at police, who baton charged a crowd demanding food.
Vast areas of southern Pakistan are now underwater.
The fertile farmland of Punjab has also been inundated by the floods.
More rain is forecast in the next 24 hours, the bad weather has already delayed the rescue and relief operation, especially in remote parts of the north-west where floodwaters have receded but hunger has set in.
The Pakistani army is struggling to reach the many millions of people in need.
The Australian Red Cross is sending a team to help coordinate the relief effort.
Spokeswoman Donna McSkimming says two Australian delegates are in Pakistan, while another two will arrive in the next 24 hours.
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