Pakistan blows up another dike as flooding spreads

Pakistani authorities say they will blow up another protective dike to spare a city from severe flooding, AP reported.
Spokesman Ahmed Kamal of the country's disaster management agency says experts placed explosives near the dike on Sunday to spare the city of Muzaffargarh from the flooding that has ravaged the eastern Punjab province.
Senior provincial rescue official Ali Imam Syed says three people have drowned near Muzaffargarh. A rescue boat carrying 30 people overturned in the same area, but rescuers were able to save everyone.
Military and civilian rescuers have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate people since Sept. 3, when monsoon rains triggered flooding in the disputed region of Kashmir and Pakistan's Punjab. Nearly 500 people have died in the flooding.