Pakstani military diverts swollen rivers to save cities from floods

In this photograph released by the Indian Air Force, flood-affected civilians travel inside an IAF aircraft out of Srinagar, India. Flash floods have killed hundreds, washed away crops, damaged tens of thousands of homes and affected over a million people since Sept. 3, when heavy monsoon rains lashed Pakistan's eastern Punjab province and the Kashmir region, claimed by both India and Pakistan. (AP Photo/Indian Air Force) (The Associated Press)

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Kashmiri volunteers deliver relief material to flood victims who have taken shelter in a hotel in the city center of Srinagar, India, Friday, Sept. 12, 2014. Officials said the flooding has killed 200 people in India, where anger and resentment was mounting over what victims described as a slow rescue and relief effort. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistani villager wades through floodwaters in district Shorkot near Jhang, Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 12, 2014. The Pakistani military stepped up rescue efforts as floods wreaked havoc in more districts of the country's eastern Punjab province on Friday, leaving hundreds of thousands a people homeless. After destroying hundreds of villages in the Jhang district this week, the floods on Friday hit three more Punjab districts. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) (The Associated Press)

Officials say military specialists have blown up dikes in central Pakistan to divert swollen rivers and save cities from raging floods that have killed nearly 500 people in Pakistan and the Himalayan region of Kashmir and affected over 2 million others.

The breaches at the overflowing Chenab River were done overnight as floodwaters reached Multan, a city famous for its Sufi saints.

Pakistani troops have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate marooned people since Sept. 3 when floods triggered by monsoon rains hit Pakistan and Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and neighboring India.

Pakistan's military said Saturday it was still evacuating people and air-dropping food.

So far, 274 people have been killed in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, while 200 have died in India-controlled Kashmir.

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