Rain and floods have killed 280 people and injured more than 500 across Pakistan, including eastern Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said officials on Saturday.
Ahmad Kamal, the spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management (NDMA) said that more than two million people had been affected in the ongoing crisis. Most of the breaches at the overflowing eastern Chenab River were performed overnight as floodwater reached eastern Multan city.
An additional hole was breached near Shershah Bridge as a result of water rapidly flowing into towns in the vicinity. As a consequence, dozens of villages have also been inundated. Civil and military officials have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate marooned people since September 3, when floods triggered by monsoon rains hit Pakistan.
Meanwhile, personnel of the Pakistan Army are engaged in relief operations and affected families have been provided tents, food and blankets. In a statement, the military said that it was still evacuating people and airdropping food in the districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang cities. It said troops had airdropped tonnes of food on flood-affected areas, while the army's medical teams were also treating patients.
In 2010, floods killed approximately 2,000 people and caused a damage totaling over USD 10 billion.