The floods were moving swiftly and would reach Sukkur by Saturday, meteorologist Hazrat Mir said.

Officials in Karachi scrambled to prevent loss of life and more damage to the agriculture sector as the waters spread from the northwest to the Punjab farmlands then down to Sindh, engulfing entire villages.

Near Sukkur, the situation looked desperate.

“There is nothing but just water all around us,” said a cameraman who travelled for several miles by boat with soldiers just southeast of Sukkur.

Children helped parents to set up shelters of plastic sheeting on a roadside as they waited for rescue or aid.

“I've lost my house, food.

“We have nothing. Nobody has come to us,” said villager Ali Nawaz.

About 350,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas of the Indus basin in Sindh.

Authorities in Sindh said treacherous conditions were hampering evacuation efforts but villagers were reluctant to leave their homes.—Reuters