US adds $20 mn for Pakistan flood relief

WASHINGTON - The US will provide an additional $20 million in relief funding for the flooding in Pakistan that has killed more than 1,600 people in the last two weeks, a US official said Tuesday.

That amount brings the total US contribution to $55 million and will help account for a wider area now being affected by the flooding, said Mark Ward, acting director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

The US military has sent helicopters into the region to ferry victims out of the danger zone, while the US government has sent other humanitarian aid supplies.