U.S. Sends Money, Equipment As Pakistan Death Toll From Flooding Rises

A boy hangs on to the front of a cargo truck while passing through a flooded road in Risalpur, located in Pakistan's Nowshera district, on July 30.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the United States is sending equipment and $10 million as an initial commitment to aiding Pakistan as it recovers from catastrophic flooding.

Clinton said the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad was coordinating the rushed delivery of helicopters, boats, pre-fabricated bridges, mobile water-treatment units, and emergency food supplies.

Information Minister for Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa Province Mian Iftikhar Husain said more than 1,100 people have been killed and more than 1.5 million affected in severe flooding that has hit the area.

Husain said the final toll could be much higher since "the devastation is so widespread" that there are likely deaths that have not been reported yet.

Latifur Rehman, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, described the destruction as "massive", saying aerial surveys show that whole villages have been washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have been destroyed.

compiled from agency reports