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August 10, 2010
Asian flood crisis worsens
ZHOUQU, China (AP) -- The death toll from landslides in northwestern China more than doubled Tuesday to 702, as crews in three countries across Asia struggled to reach survivors from flooding that has afflicted millions of people. Rescuers digging by hand through mud found a 52-year old man who had been trapped for more than 50 hours inside a leveled apartment building in the remote town of Zhouqu, where local officials said more than 1,000 other people were still missing. Rescuers with sniffer dogs discovered the man, Liu Ma Shindan, who was in weak condition but breathing normally.
In Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari returned Tuesday to a storm of criticism for visiting Europe as his country was gripped by the worst floods in its history that have affected nearly 14 million people. His arrival came as thousands of people fled a major city in central Pakistan as rivers nearby swelled and threatened to submerge the area.
And rescuers in the desert mountainsides in Indian-controlled Kashmir recovered more bodies, with the death toll rising to 165 from flash floods. Thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers continued clearing roads and removing the debris of hundreds of homes flattened in the Ladakh region by Friday's powerful thunderstorms. (36 images)

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Relatives grieve the loss of a loved one just pulled out from the mud resulting from the devastating landslide in Zhouqu on August 10, 2010 in northwest China's Gansu province. AFP/ Getty Images / Frederic J. Brown


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Chinese rescue workers and residents dig in the mud for victims of Sunday's mud slide that swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. Rescuers in northwest China on August 10 battled on with the grim task of searching for more than 1,100 people missing in huge mudslides, but hopes faded that many would be saved. At least three villages were leveled by an avalanche of mud and rocks triggered by heavy rains Saturday in a remote area of Gansu province, the latest deadly disaster as China battles its worst flooding in a decade. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Residents walk past a street covered by mud after the mudslide-hit town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / STR



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A Chinese man grieves over his loss while being comforted by others after a mudslide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / STR



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A Chinese man rests near a damaged building as rescue workers search a neighboring building after a mudslide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Residents peer out from a mud slide-damaged building in the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Chinese soldiers walk in a line as they prepare to search for victims of a mud slide that swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Explosives are set off to clear away debris blocking the flow of a river after a mud slide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Rescue workers and residents dig through mud to look for bodies in the mudslide-hit town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Chinese rescue workers create a makeshift path across the mud to a partially collapsed building after a mudslide swept through the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Rescue workers attempt to pull a body out of the mud on August 10, 2010 from the devastating landslide and floods in Zhouqu in northwest China's Gansu province as a crowd gathers to watch. AFP/ Getty Images / Frederic J. Brown



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A man carries an elderly woman across floodwaters after a mudslide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Medical workers carry a body across the rock and debris left after Sunday's mud slide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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Chinese soldiers and residents attempt to pry open the concrete walks of a building that collapsed after a mudslide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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A woman watches rescue workers and residents dig in the mud to look for victims after Sunday's mud slide swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Ng Han Guan



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In this photo taken on Aug. 9, 2010, a Chinese man uses a hammer to knock his damaged house down in the mudslide-hit town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China's Gansu province. AP /



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In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, Liu Ma Shindan is transported by rescuers in mudslide-hit Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Gansu Province, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. Liu Ma Shindan, 52, was rescued after being trapped for more than 50 hours following landslide, Xinhua reported. AP / Zhang Hongxiang



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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, the body of a landslide victim lies among the rubble in Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Gansu Province, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Xing Guangli



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US Army Staff Sargeant Matthew Kingsbury, from Bravo Company 2/ 3 Aviation, looks down at a flooded area while in flight on board a CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter in Swat Valley on August 10, 2010. The United States has sent four Chinooks and two Blackhawks to Pakistan, which fly with a representative of the Pakistani military on board. Torrential monsoon rains have lashed Pakistan for two weeks, triggering catastrophic flooding that the UN says has affected 13.8 million people, in a disaster eclipsing the 2004 tsunami that killed 220,000 across Asia. AFP/ Getty Images / Behrouz Mehri



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Flood waters surround the town of Mehmud Kot on August 9, 2010 in the Muzaffargarh district in Punjab, Pakistan. Getty Images / Daniel Berehulak



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Villagers move to catch food relief bags dropped from a Pakistan Army helicopter during air rescue and relief operations on August 9, 2010 in the Muzaffargarh district in Punjab, Pakistan. Getty Images / Daniel Berehulak



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A Pakistani man crosses a canal with the help of cable wire on a damaged bridge, which was washed away by heavey flood in Ghazi Gat near Muzaffargarh, in central Pakistan on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / K.M. Chaudary



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Local residents of Sukkar, Pakistan carry their stuff fleeing houses due to flooding in low-lying areas on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Shakil Adil



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Family members comfort a woman who cries after loosing her house by heavy flooding in Sukkar, Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Pervez Masih



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Flood affected villagers wait for relief in Mohib Banda near Nowshera in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad



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Pakistani villagers flee their home due to heavy flood in Muzaffargarh, in central Pakistan on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / K.M. Chaudary



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A Pakistani official wields a baton to discipline flood survivors gathered for relief good in Mohib Banda near Nowshera in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Mohammad Sajjad



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People hunt a stray wild boar which escaped from a jungle during the heavy floods to Sukkur city, Pakistan, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Shakil Adil



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Pakistani villagers chase to relief supplies dropped from an army helicopter in a heavy flood-hit area of Mithan Kot, in central Pakistan. AP / Khalid Tanveer



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A Pakistani child reaches for food as flood survivors receive donated food from a relief camp set up by local volunteers on the outskirts of Sukkur on August 9, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Asif Hassan



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Grandmother Miru Mai smiles as she adjusts a blanket of new born twin grand children, as mother Zada Perveen lays covered up after being rescued by Pakistan Army soldiers during air operations on August 9, 2010 over the village of Sanawan in the Muzaffargarh district in Punjab, Pakistan. Of the twin boys, un-named at the time, the first was born 15 minutes before mid day and the other twin was born as the Army rescue helicopter was circling above to find a safe landing position on a road surrounded by flood waters. The mother was then carried on a make shift bed through chest deep flood waters to the awaiting Pakistan Army helicopter. Getty Images / Daniel Berehulak



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Local residents salvage parts of their house half submerged in mud sludge and damaged by recent floods in Choglamsar, on the outskirts of Leh, India, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Gurinder Osan



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A woman recovers her rice rations, kept in a tin, from a house damaged by recent floods as residents, paramilitary soldiers and volunteers recover the belongings in Choglamsar, on the outskirts of Leh, India, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Gurinder Osan



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An injured flash flood survivor who was air lifted from Leh, reacts in pain as he is brought to the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, India, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. AP / Channi Anand



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Children play games as they sit inside their makeshift camp on higher ground, away from the possibility of another flash flood, near the village of Choglamsar, on the outskirts of Leh, India, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. AP / Gurinder Osan



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Local residents take shelter in tents on top of a hill for fear of further flash floods near Choglamsar village in Leh on August 9, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Manan Vatsyayana



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