The Red Cross is warning of a humanitarian emergency in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. A spokesman for the Red Cross says water and electricity supplies have been cut for the past 48 hours.
He says engineers need to reach a major pumping station under the control of coalition forces.
"We are now actively trying to obtain the possibility to send a team of engineers across the line to be able to reach the main water station that serves 1.9 million people in southern Iraq.
"They have been without water for the past 48 hours and it is an humanitarian emergency that they should be given access to clear water."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-24mar2003-13.htm