(CNN) -- The United Nations made an urgent plea for helicopters as the death toll from weeks of massive flooding in Pakistan neared 1,600 people Wednesday.
"We need at least 40 additional heavy-lift helicopters, working at full capacity, to reach the huge numbers of increasingly desperate people with life-saving relief," Marcus Prior of the World Food Programme said in a statement.
Flood waters have washed away critical roads and bridges throughout the country, but especially in the mountainous areas of Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and in the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
"In northern areas that are cut off, markets are short of vital supplies, and prices are rising sharply. People are in need of food staples to survive".
The United Nation's estimates that 800,000 people in need of humanitarian aid across Pakistan are only accessible by air. CNN
