Struggling through

It brought further destruction in an area where hundreds of thousands of refugees are already in dire need of food and water.

Almost all of Sujawal's 250,000 residents fled from the town before the water rushed in, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across the country, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province.

Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal, said the authorities there were trying to limit the damage, but the water level had already reached 5ft in the centre of town and up to 10ft in the surrounding villages.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, one of the major cities in southern Sindh and the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help.

The floods began in the mountainous North West about a month ago with the onset of monsoon rains and have moved slowly down the country , inundating vast areas of farmland.