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Aid from 30 nations pours into Pakistan
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-12 20:30
Helicopters flying in clear skies delivered aid to
earthquake survivors Wednesday, a day after rain and hail grounded efforts.
Relief supplies poured into Pakistan from about 30 countries, including from
longtime archrival India.
 Food is distribute to women in the northern
Pakistani town of Muzaffarabad, Wednesday Oct. 12, 2005 after last
Saturday's earthquake. The Pakistani government's official death toll was
about 23,000 people, but a senior army official involved in the rescue
operations said that 'according to our assessment, the death toll is
between 35,000 to 40,000 people.'
[AP] |
Rescuers pulled a dust-covered 5-year-old from the rubble, a shot of good
news as hopes faded of finding other earthquake survivors. "I want to drink,"
the girl whispered.
Zarabe Shah's neighbors on Tuesday recovered the bodies of her father and two
of her sisters. Her mother and another two sisters survived.
Many bodies were still buried beneath leveled buildings, and the United
Nations warned of the threat of measles, cholera and diarrhea outbreaks among
the millions of survivors.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a regional tour, arrived in
Islamabad and was expected to discuss quake relief with Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
The 7.6-magnitude quake on Saturday demolished whole communities, mostly in
the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The U.N. estimated that some 4 million people
have been affected, including 2 million who have lost their homes.
U.S., Pakistani, German and Afghan helicopters resumed aid flights suspended
because of stormy weather. They brought food, medicines and other supplies to
Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir, and then
ferried out the injured to hospitals. Some 50,000 Pakistani troops joined the
relief effort.
Still, residents in Muzaffarabad were desperate, mobbing trucks with food and
water and grabbing whatever they could. The weak were pushed aside.
Jan Vandemoortele, U.N. Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said key roads
into the quake zone that were blocked earlier have been opened up. U.S. military
spokesman Col. James Yonts said that with the resumption of flights, helicopters
had been able to unplug any backlog of aid.
About 30 countries_ including the United States, France, Japan, Jordan,
China, Russia, Iran, and Syria — have sent relief equipment, doctors,
paramedics, tents, blankets, medicines, disaster relief teams. Many have also
pledged financial assistance.
"Relief material is moving in," Vandemoortele said in Islamabad. "It is
getting there. Roads are open now. They were blocked until very recently. We
have several trucks that are all loaded and on the road now."
A transport plane bringing tents, medicines and other relief goods from
archrival India — also affected by the quake, but less severely than Pakistan —
arrived at the air base, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.
More than 1,400 people have died in India's part of Kashmir, and the offer
and receipt of the aid by Pakistan reflects warming relations between the
nuclear-armed rivals, which embarked on a peace process early last year.
The Pakistani government's official death toll was about 23,000 people and
47,000 injured, but a senior army official who requested anonymity because he
wasn't authorized to release the figure publicly said an estimated 35,000 to
40,000 people had died.
Rescue workers fanned out of Muzaffarabad by helicopter to remote regions of
Kashmir. Among them were eight teams from the British International Rescue
Corps, which has found 16 survivors since arriving in the quake zone nearly
three days ago.
"As time goes on, hope will get less and less. But you always do get
miracles," said Ray Gray, a stocky man in a blue uniform and helmet, as he
prepared to board a chopper. "Even if we just find one person, the whole effort
is worth it."
Vandemoortele said there have been no reports of epidemic outbreaks so far
but the area's health infrastructure has completely collapsed, he said.
In one field clinic alone, 2,000 patients had been treated, most of them for
broken arms or legs. It's too early for onset of disease, but officials are
fully aware of the potential threat, he said.
The quake has damaged sanitation systems in the region, destroyed hospitals
and left many victims with no access to clean drinking water, making them more
vulnerable to disease.
"Measles could potentially become a serious problem," said Fadela Chaib, a
WHO spokeswoman in Geneva. "We fear that if people huddle closely together in
temporary shelters and crowded conditions, more measles cases could occur."
Measles — potentially deadly for children — are already endemic in the region
and only 60 percent of the children are protected. At least 90 percent coverage
is needed to prevent an epidemic, WHO said. The agency will soon start gathering
essential vaccines for a mass immunization program.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said within the next couple
of days there likely would be 25 to 30 U.S. military helicopters sent to
Pakistan, from Afghanistan, Bahrain and other countries in the
region.
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