◎Rescue crews still finding survivors buried under debris◎
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Posted: 0243 GMT (1043 HKT)
【ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Frustration is mounting in Pakistan and India
over the pace of relief efforts in the earthquake zone with many remote regions
still not accessible after Saturday's tremor struck.】
The 7.6-magnitude earthquake was felt across northern Pakistan and the disputed
region of Kashmir, as well as parts of India and Afghanistan.
The death toll has topped 30,000 in Pakistan alone, with another 999 dead in
India and one reported death in Afghanistan.
But officials in both countries are defensive of relief efforts, saying blocked
roads and a lack of helicopters have prevented rescue teams reaching far-flung
areas.
Pakistani presidential spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told CNN some areas
had been "virtually impossible to reach" via land routes.
"Convoys are now moving during night as well as during the day to reach the area.
The scale of the rescue is now going to be much more than what we could manage
through the helicopters only," he said.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in the Indian-controlled portion Kashmir complained
they had run out of food and water following the quake, The Associated Press
reports.
India's Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said Monday that relief has been sent to most
areas, but some remote communities have not yet been covered.
"As road accessibility improves, we hope to reach these villages by tomorrow
(Tuesday). There may be some more casualties but not too many more," Duggal
told a media conference in New Delhi.
"Even as relief work has reached most areas, certain patches in Uri, Kupwara
and Baramulla are yet to be reached as the populace is scattered," he said.
Reporting from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, CNN's Andrew Stevens said
there was a "lot of anger" over the relief effort.
"There is a general feeling more needs to be done," Stevens said.
He said the government was defending its efforts, saying it did not have the
resources to cope with the sheer scale of the disaster, being particularly
hampered by a lack of helicopters.
Rescuers, meanwhile, were still finding survivors in the wreckage of an
11-story apartment building in an upscale district of Islamabad late Monday.
Pakistani troops and a British search team pulled a 2-year-old girl from the
rubble alive Monday night, followed by her mother. Both were taken to
hospitals for evaluation after spending two days buried in the collapse,
authorities on the scene told CNN.
Another adult was found alive earlier Monday in the building as the slow,
methodical search went on, bringing the number of survivors rescued there
to 25. Rescue workers erupted into cheers when they were able to bring out
survivors.
But search teams also found 35 bodies in the rubble.
Andrew MacLeod, a U.N. disaster relief official in northern Pakistan, said
another 11 people were rescued from collapsed schools in the hard-hit region.
"Within this tragedy, we've had 11 examples of very, very good news today,"
MacLeod said.
Government, police and hospital officials estimated Pakistan's death toll at
30,000 but said that number was sure to rise.
Faiza Janmohammad, country director of Mercy Corps, said Pakistan's death toll
was about 40,000, but the source of her information was not clear.
Islamic Relief spokesman Waseem Yaqhoob told CNN he thought the deaths would
reach "80,000, maybe more."
"This could get very close to tsunami levels," he said. "It's horrific. It
really is terrible."
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday that
another 43,000 people were injured. Regarding the casualty figures, he said,
"They will certainly go up."
The epicenter of the quake was in Muzaffarabad, the capital of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which sits in the Himalayan foothills 60 miles
(96 kilometers) northeast of Islamabad.
The Pakistani army hospital in Muzaffarabad was heavily damaged, and mass
burials were held Monday.
There also are reports of looting in Muzaffarabad.
"They've lost everything. They have no clothes, no food, nothing," resident
Asim Butt told Reuters. "People have started looting things from shops."
Also badly hit was Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, where many
villages were leveled and roads destroyed, making travel all but impossible.
CNN's Matthew Chance, reporting Monday from the city of Balakot in the
North-West Frontier province, described a "scene of utter devastation,"
saying nearly every building in the tourist town of 250,000 had been destroyed.
(Eyewitness accounts)
People picked through the rubble with pick axes and their bare hands, looking
for family and friends, Chance said, adding there were only four doctors to
serve the thousands of injured.
The United Nations has warned that more than 2.5 million people are in need of
shelter following the earthquake, The Associated Press reported.
***Assistance is flowing***
Across wide areas there is no power, or adequate food or water. Pakistanis have
camped out in the streets overnight, fearful of returning home because of
aftershocks, one of which measured 6.2 in magnitude.
Some slept in their cars, while others gathered in outdoor areas such as
soccer fields.
Planes packed with supplies are arriving, while rescue teams are being
dispatched to help those who have been left injured, homeless or stranded.
Late Sunday, the White House announced the United States would provide initial
aid of up to $50 million for reconstruction and relief efforts in Pakistan, a key
U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, said Monday that "assistance is
flowing in now."
"Our first flight came in [Sunday] night -- the military airlift with blankets,
water, rations," he said. "There will be additional flights tonight and on through
the week."
Crocker also said that eight military helicopters had been brought to Pakistan
from U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said ties to Pakistan "are made even closer
by the large population of British citizens who trace their origin to the Kashmir
region. Such ties make the growing number of casualties even harder to bear."
A second emergency team from Britain arrived Sunday in Islamabad, the Foreign Office
said, bringing fire brigades and search dogs.
European Union Commissioner Louis Michel said he was sending $4.4 million in
emergency relief aid to the region.
The United Nations has been coordinating relief efforts from the international
airport in Islamabad, said Jan Egeland, U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian
affairs.
***Military tensions aside***
But the need is staggering, Egeland said, with the number of homeless rivaling
those left without shelter after last year's tsunami in South Asia.
"There will be need for hundreds of thousands of tents and emergency shelter
for all the people who have lost everything," he said.
Political tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region appeared
to take a back seat as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Musharraf
and offered help.
The two nations have fought three wars -- two of them over Kashmir -- since
independence from British rule in 1947.
"We have offered all possible assistance for rescue and relief measures,"
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told CNN from New Delhi.
Musharraf said he thanked the Indian leader for the offer. "Whatever we need,
we will certainly ask," he said, though he noted that there is "a little bit
of sensitivity there."
Meanwhile, Associated Press reports the region's Islamic insurgency continues
unabated with police saying 10 people were killed by suspected Muslim
militants on Monday.
CNN's Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Syed
Mohsin Naqvi and John Raedler and journalists Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan
contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this
report.)
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Posted: 0243 GMT (1043 HKT)
【ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Frustration is mounting in Pakistan and India
over the pace of relief efforts in the earthquake zone with many remote regions
still not accessible after Saturday's tremor struck.】
The 7.6-magnitude earthquake was felt across northern Pakistan and the disputed
region of Kashmir, as well as parts of India and Afghanistan.
The death toll has topped 30,000 in Pakistan alone, with another 999 dead in
India and one reported death in Afghanistan.
But officials in both countries are defensive of relief efforts, saying blocked
roads and a lack of helicopters have prevented rescue teams reaching far-flung
areas.
Pakistani presidential spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told CNN some areas
had been "virtually impossible to reach" via land routes.
"Convoys are now moving during night as well as during the day to reach the area.
The scale of the rescue is now going to be much more than what we could manage
through the helicopters only," he said.
Meanwhile, thousands of people in the Indian-controlled portion Kashmir complained
they had run out of food and water following the quake, The Associated Press
reports.
India's Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said Monday that relief has been sent to most
areas, but some remote communities have not yet been covered.
"As road accessibility improves, we hope to reach these villages by tomorrow
(Tuesday). There may be some more casualties but not too many more," Duggal
told a media conference in New Delhi.
"Even as relief work has reached most areas, certain patches in Uri, Kupwara
and Baramulla are yet to be reached as the populace is scattered," he said.
Reporting from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, CNN's Andrew Stevens said
there was a "lot of anger" over the relief effort.
"There is a general feeling more needs to be done," Stevens said.
He said the government was defending its efforts, saying it did not have the
resources to cope with the sheer scale of the disaster, being particularly
hampered by a lack of helicopters.
Rescuers, meanwhile, were still finding survivors in the wreckage of an
11-story apartment building in an upscale district of Islamabad late Monday.
Pakistani troops and a British search team pulled a 2-year-old girl from the
rubble alive Monday night, followed by her mother. Both were taken to
hospitals for evaluation after spending two days buried in the collapse,
authorities on the scene told CNN.
Another adult was found alive earlier Monday in the building as the slow,
methodical search went on, bringing the number of survivors rescued there
to 25. Rescue workers erupted into cheers when they were able to bring out
survivors.
But search teams also found 35 bodies in the rubble.
Andrew MacLeod, a U.N. disaster relief official in northern Pakistan, said
another 11 people were rescued from collapsed schools in the hard-hit region.
"Within this tragedy, we've had 11 examples of very, very good news today,"
MacLeod said.
Government, police and hospital officials estimated Pakistan's death toll at
30,000 but said that number was sure to rise.
Faiza Janmohammad, country director of Mercy Corps, said Pakistan's death toll
was about 40,000, but the source of her information was not clear.
Islamic Relief spokesman Waseem Yaqhoob told CNN he thought the deaths would
reach "80,000, maybe more."
"This could get very close to tsunami levels," he said. "It's horrific. It
really is terrible."
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday that
another 43,000 people were injured. Regarding the casualty figures, he said,
"They will certainly go up."
The epicenter of the quake was in Muzaffarabad, the capital of
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which sits in the Himalayan foothills 60 miles
(96 kilometers) northeast of Islamabad.
The Pakistani army hospital in Muzaffarabad was heavily damaged, and mass
burials were held Monday.
There also are reports of looting in Muzaffarabad.
"They've lost everything. They have no clothes, no food, nothing," resident
Asim Butt told Reuters. "People have started looting things from shops."
Also badly hit was Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, where many
villages were leveled and roads destroyed, making travel all but impossible.
CNN's Matthew Chance, reporting Monday from the city of Balakot in the
North-West Frontier province, described a "scene of utter devastation,"
saying nearly every building in the tourist town of 250,000 had been destroyed.
(Eyewitness accounts)
People picked through the rubble with pick axes and their bare hands, looking
for family and friends, Chance said, adding there were only four doctors to
serve the thousands of injured.
The United Nations has warned that more than 2.5 million people are in need of
shelter following the earthquake, The Associated Press reported.
***Assistance is flowing***
Across wide areas there is no power, or adequate food or water. Pakistanis have
camped out in the streets overnight, fearful of returning home because of
aftershocks, one of which measured 6.2 in magnitude.
Some slept in their cars, while others gathered in outdoor areas such as
soccer fields.
Planes packed with supplies are arriving, while rescue teams are being
dispatched to help those who have been left injured, homeless or stranded.
Late Sunday, the White House announced the United States would provide initial
aid of up to $50 million for reconstruction and relief efforts in Pakistan, a key
U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, said Monday that "assistance is
flowing in now."
"Our first flight came in [Sunday] night -- the military airlift with blankets,
water, rations," he said. "There will be additional flights tonight and on through
the week."
Crocker also said that eight military helicopters had been brought to Pakistan
from U.S. operations in Afghanistan.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said ties to Pakistan "are made even closer
by the large population of British citizens who trace their origin to the Kashmir
region. Such ties make the growing number of casualties even harder to bear."
A second emergency team from Britain arrived Sunday in Islamabad, the Foreign Office
said, bringing fire brigades and search dogs.
European Union Commissioner Louis Michel said he was sending $4.4 million in
emergency relief aid to the region.
The United Nations has been coordinating relief efforts from the international
airport in Islamabad, said Jan Egeland, U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian
affairs.
***Military tensions aside***
But the need is staggering, Egeland said, with the number of homeless rivaling
those left without shelter after last year's tsunami in South Asia.
"There will be need for hundreds of thousands of tents and emergency shelter
for all the people who have lost everything," he said.
Political tensions between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region appeared
to take a back seat as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Musharraf
and offered help.
The two nations have fought three wars -- two of them over Kashmir -- since
independence from British rule in 1947.
"We have offered all possible assistance for rescue and relief measures,"
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told CNN from New Delhi.
Musharraf said he thanked the Indian leader for the offer. "Whatever we need,
we will certainly ask," he said, though he noted that there is "a little bit
of sensitivity there."
Meanwhile, Associated Press reports the region's Islamic insurgency continues
unabated with police saying 10 people were killed by suspected Muslim
militants on Monday.
CNN's Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Syed
Mohsin Naqvi and John Raedler and journalists Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan
contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this
report.)
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