Mozambique relief efforts continue

Relief teams in Mozambique have been concentrating on getting food and medicine to thousands of people stranded by rising flood waters.

The aid effort has gained greater urgency because of the numbers of people refusing to leave their homes.

The head of the South African air force operation, Colonel Hugh Paine, said people were under the misconception that they were free from danger, and were resisting rescue.

The government in Mozambique has said it wants to evacuate up to a-hundred-thousand people from the low-lying regions of the Zambezi valley. Officials fear the flooding will worsen as water continues to pour into the river from neighbouring countries.

A naval team from Portugal -- the formal colonial power -- is expected to begin rescue efforts on Monday, focussing on the central towns of Marromeu and Caia -- some of the worst-affected areas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service