Cyclone creates chaos in Pakistan

A cyclone hit the coast of Pakistan yesterday killing several people, cutting roads and stranding hundreds, but it spared the country's biggest city days after about 230 people were killed there in a storm.

Authorities in Pakistan and neighbouring India have evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas after weekend storms and flooding killed nearly 400 people across the South Asian region.

Tropical cyclone Yemyin, packing winds of up to 130 kph roared over the Arabian Sea to the south of Karachi and hit the thinly populated coast of Baluchistan province at about 11 a.m. (0600 GMT).

The storm hit land between Ormara, 250 km west of Karachi, and Pasni, 400 km west of the port city of 12 million people - Pakistan's biggest city - where about 230 were killed at the weekend, many by wind that brought down slum houses.

Cyclone Yemyin dumped torrential rain but weakened rapidly as it moved inland, said chief meteorologist Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry. Officials in Baluchistan province said thousands of people had been evacuated from low-lying areas, including from near a dam where the water level had risen dangerously. Communications with the worst-affected area was difficult, they said.

At least 10 people, including four children, had been killed on Monday and yesterday, said provincial government spokesman Raziq Bugti. Some houses and crops were also damaged, he said.