The flood waters had ripped a 20ft (6m) hole through the city defences which army engineers were battling to repair. An official from Thatta city said: "We ordered people of Thatta city on Thursday night to move to safer places after floods breached an embankment at Faqir Jogoth village. "We hope that engineers will be able to repair the breach, or otherwise floodwaters will inundate Thatta city." The surrounding area including the towns of Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro and Darro, with a total population of 400,000, have already been evacuated. Abdul Karim Palejo, a government school teacher in Thatta said: "It is the worst tragedy ...we are leaving our homes in miserable condition." The evacuation of Thatta, the region's largest city, will be a huge blow to people already fleeing their own areas who were heading to Thatta for food and shelter. The latest evacuation adds to the eight million people already displaced by flooding caused by monsoon rains across the country over the last month. Pakistan's worst ever natural disaster has left 1,600 people dead and 2,366 injured, but the United Nations has warned that millions more are at risk from disease and food shortages.
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