Flood death toll in Pakistan rises to 800

Rescuers trying to reach thousands of Pakistani flood victims have been hampered by deluged roads and damaged bridges, while fears of disease rose as some evacuees showed signs of diarrhoea, fever and other illnesses.

Floods killed more than 430 people in a week, left some 400,000 people stranded in far-flung villages and severely damaged the nation's already-weak infrastructure.

The UN has estimated that some one million people were affected, though it didn't specify exactly what that meant.

In the northwest, the hardest-hit region, it was the worst flooding since 1929. People clung to fences and each other as water gushed over their heads, TV footage showed. Scores of men, women and children sat on roofs.

A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhoea and others had marks appearing on their skin, causing itching.

Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try reaching flood-hit areas, the UN said. It reported that thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged.