Thousands flee south Pakistan city

More than 175,000 people have fled Pakistan's southern city of Thatta, leaving it virtually empty, as flood waters threatened to submerge the city's outskirts. Troops and civilians were struggling on Sunday to protect the city after floodwaters broke through levees on the Indus. "The water is still two kilometers away from Thatta where the armed forces and the local administrative workers are working on war footing to save the city," Hadi Bakhsh Kalhoro, a senior city official told the AFP news agency. "The army brought a maximum of resources to try to fill up the breach. Almost all the people have left Thatta to safer places, all shops and schools are closed," he said. Thousands of people sought shelter on the high ground of a historic cemetery outside Thatta and others headed to nearby towns and cities.