Pakistan steps up rescue operation

Army and navy helicopters scoured the area affected by a dam burst near the coastal town of Pasni where at least 87 people were killed and up to 2,000 went missing.

More than 20,000 people have been affected by subsequent flooding in Pasni, about 500 miles south of Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province.

Baluchistan provincial government spokesman Raziq Bugti said thousands of soldiers were ferrying people to safety across the Pasni district where two more small dams burst late on Saturday, flooding about 20 villages.

"More than 200 people have been killed in Baluchistan alone," he said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on state television the government has rushed blankets, tents and other relief goods to villages near Pasni while President Pervez Musharraf, who personally toured the area, announced financial compensation.

The unusually heavy rain and snow has hammered other parts of Pakistan as well.

In mountainous Kohistan district in northern Pakistan, four houses were crushed by an avalanche killing at least 16 people while as many were believed to be still missing, Rao Amin Hashim, deputy inspector general of police in the region, told Reuters.