Millions homeless; storms slow aid
U.N. warns of possible disease threat in devastated region
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Posted: 2340 GMT (0740 HKT)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Millions of people remained homeless early Wednesday in the Himalayan regions of northern Pakistan and India following last weekend's earthquake that has claimed more than 41,000 lives.
As Wednesday morning approached, new threats loomed for the people left without shelter following the quake; international health experts warned of potential disease threats from the devastated public sanitation systems.
Medical teams from throughout Pakistan and the international community were heading into the earthquake zone to treat people. (Full story)
On Tuesday, rain, wind and cold hindered relief efforts from the 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed an estimated 41,000 people and left millions homeless in the Himalayan regions of India and Pakistan.
Severe thunderstorms, some containing hail, temporarily grounded relief flights out of Islamabad. And as darkness embraced the area and the storms faded away, the cold air threatened those millions sleeping in tents or on open ground.
And the rain brought a new threat -- mudslides on the steep mountainsides.
But the first trickle of international humanitarian assistance began to reach the region Tuesday, World Food Program spokesman Amjad Jamal told CNN, and WFP assessment teams have spread throughout the earthquake zone.
"One-hundred-twenty metric tons of ready-to-eat food is arriving today," Jamal said. "We estimate that this commodity will be sufficient for 240,000 people for five days." (World boosts quake aid effort)
But Jamal acknowledged that the need was great. He said appeals were being made to the international community for additional donations of food, supplies and money.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told CNN the international response had been "overwhelming" and "transcends" religion and politics.
"We have had over 20 countries sending rescue teams," he said. "There is hardly a country in the world that has not spoken with me."
Kasuri acknowledged that Pakistan had gratefully accepted aid from its neighbor and nuclear rival, India, with whom it has fought three wars -- two of them over the disputed Kashmir region that took the brunt of Saturday's earthquake. (Full story)
"We have accepted aid (from India)," he said. "We don't want to stand on false pride. ... If I'm not mistaken, one aircraft has arrived or is about to arrive carrying tents and medicine. We have indicated to India the types of things we need.
"We welcome this help from India. When you say, 'Is it an important confidence-building measure?' you can say that. But the response from the entire international community has been overwhelming, and we are deeply touched by that."
Still, the incoming aid was not enough -- early Tuesday afternoon, the United Nations issued an emergency appeal for $272 million to respond to the crisis.
The earthquake killed at least 20,000 in Pakistan, 1,239 in India and one person in Afghanistan, according to government, police and hospital officials.
Local government, police and hospital officials, however, put Pakistan's death toll at more than 41,000. Kasuri told CNN that the national government "can only give the number of the people actually certified as dead."
Confusion over death tolls is common after such disasters, and confirmed death tolls frequently are far lower than original predictions.
Early Tuesday, search teams stepped up rescue efforts after making contact with another person buried under the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Islamabad. Jubilant rescuers had pulled a 2-year-old girl and her mother from the same wreckage hours earlier.
Hours later, the rescuers pulled out a 75-year-old woman and her 55-year-old daughter. Just before she was pulled out, the older woman asked if her family was still alive. Only upon hearing "Yes" was she willing to be rescued.
A few hours after that rescue, the workers were preparing to bring another woman out alive.
More than 25 people have been rescued at the site, with rescue workers erupting into cheers when they bring out someone alive. Search teams also have found 35 bodies in the rubble.
The fallen building was about 10 years old, and others on the upscale block survived the quake. Pakistani authorities have said they plan an extensive probe into the cause of the collapse.
Relief efforts
The quake struck shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday (0400 GMT) near Balakot, a city of about 250,000, 145 kilometers (90 miles) north-northeast of Islamabad. All of the town's buildings were flattened, and the survivors were camping in fields.
The aid offered by the international community includes two planes loaded with relief supplies and personnel from Spain, one coming on Monday and the other on Tuesday, a French Airbus with medical personnel and two French C-135 cargo planes carrying medical and surgical equipment, including an entire field hospital.
The French Foreign Affairs Ministry said it was readying a shipment of 90 tons of humanitarian aid, including tents, blankets and lanterns.
Along with $50 million in relief, the United States sent military helicopters from neighboring Afghanistan to help with relief efforts.
"The reason why we're here is ... to provide humanitarian assistance to the Pakistani people," said Sgt. William Fronz, a U.S. Army pilot at an air base in Rawalpindi, outside of Islamabad.
"We're taking food rations, we're also medevacking and moving casualties that were injured in the earthquake. We're here to provide any assistance that this country needs us to help with and we're happy to be a part of this."
A senior defense official in Washington told CNN that in the next few days the size of the U.S. military helicopter fleet providing assistance will grow substantially -- perhaps to several dozen aircraft -- depending on final arrangements to be worked out with Pakistan.
A pair of C-17 cargo planes were expected to arrive in Islamabad by late Tuesday evening, officials said, both loaded with supplies. Two more were due to arrive Wednesday.
The senior defense official also told CNN that both manned and unmanned U.S. aircraft were in use to conduct reconnaissance over the stricken area, gathering data to pinpoint damage locations.
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Vice Adm. David Nichols, the chief of the U.S. 5th Fleet, traveled to Islamabad Monday to assess Pakistan's needs.
The capital, just 90 kilometers south-southwest of the earthquake's epicenter, was spared the worst of the damage. (Full story)
Traveling in the Baramullah district of Indian-controlled Kashmir Tuesday, CNN's Ram Ramgopal said residents of the region were in a "desperate situation."
In addition to the more than 1,200 deaths, police officials in the state capital, Srinagar, reported 7,082 injuries, with significant damage to 34,245 dwellings and another 9,836 destroyed.
"Obviously, people have lost everything," Ramgopal said. "These are people who have been cut off. They have very little means of their own right now and they are relying on states to provide that assistance."
CNN's Matthew Chance, reporting from Balakot in the North-West Frontier province, said nearly every building in the tourist town had been destroyed. (Survivors describe shock)
CNN's Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Becky Anderson, Syed Mohsin Naqvi, John Raedler, 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.
Email this story
Posts
