Thousands of injured people languished without shelter and medical care in villages across the earthquake-stricken region of Kashmir and authorities warned that exposure and infections could drive the death toll up from 54,000 as the harsh Himalayan winter loomed.
The Pakistani military, civilian volunteers and international aid groups are rushing aid and doctors to the region, as fast as the logistical challenges allow. Landslides caused by the earthquake cut off many roads, which will take several weeks to clear and heavy weather has made the relief operations more difficult.
“It’s the injured who most urgently need help,” said Bill Berger, leader of the USAID disaster assistance response team.
The local government of Pakistani-held Kashmir estimated that at least 40,000 people died there. Officials reported another 13,000 deaths in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, and India said 1,360 people died in its portion of Kashmir.
In addition to those killed, some 80,000 people were injured in the October 8 quake and many are in desperate need of medical care. The United Nations has estimated 3.3 million were also left without homes and need food and shelter ahead of the winter, which was moving in rapidly.
Maj. Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan, Pakistan’s top relief official, said 33,000 tents and 130,000 blankets have been distributed to quake survivors. He said 260,000 tents and two million blankets were needed.
Packages of food and blankets have been dropped to more than 580 remote villages in the Muzaffarabad district, army spokesman Col. Rana Sajjad said.
“It’s very difficult to reach each and every place,” he said, adding many people had walked into the bigger settlements from the mountains seeking aid.
Eighty Pakistani soldiers were flown by helicopter into the Neelum Valley, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, to carry emergency rations and other relief supplies on foot to those in need, the army said.
Soldiers also drove mule teams with relief supplies to some of the region’s steep-sided villages, crossing people with bundles on their shoulders carefully walking down to lower elevations.
“There are serious patients with infected wounds and gangrene,” said Sebastian Nowak of the International Committee of the Red Cross, after a team of the group’s doctors landed in Chekar, about 65 kilometres east of Muzaffarabad.
In the part of divided Kashmir that India controls, torrential rain and snow hampered relief operations on Monday as roads to the badly hit Uri and Tangdhar areas were cut off from the rest of the region. Trucks loaded with supplies were stranded on mountain roads, and survivors huddled in rain-sodden tents and lit fires to keep warm.
Pakistan said it was willing to accept an offer from rival India to send helicopters for earthquake relief operations, but without Indian pilots - either military or commercial. The nations have fought three wars since 1947, but India has sent quake relief aid to its neighbor.
However, India Tuesday rejected Pakistan’s request. The India Foreign Minister “conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart that it would not be possible for India to provide helicopters, which are in service with its armed forces without pilots and crews” an Indian foreign ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has revised its Flash Appeal after the Pakistani quake upwards from US$ 272 million to US$ 312 million over six months, with the World Health Organisation reporting that less than 50% of the entire affected area has been accessed so far.
The UN has also scheduled an international conference next week on aid to earthquake-hit Pakistan, its humanitarian arm said.
Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the October 24 meeting was expected to bring together ministers from Pakistan and donor countries, plus international aid agencies and other relief groups.
The UN has so far received only US$ 6 million of the amount it appealed for after the earthquake, while donors have pledged another US$ 44 million.
Most of the aid has been in kind - ranging from food supplies to helicopter flight hours and the UN figure does not include all the direct aid to Pakistan offered by donor countries.
Although neighbouring India was also affected, the UN conference will focus on Pakistan because New Delhi has not asked for foreign aid, Byrs said.
The Pakistani military, civilian volunteers and international aid groups are rushing aid and doctors to the region, as fast as the logistical challenges allow. Landslides caused by the earthquake cut off many roads, which will take several weeks to clear and heavy weather has made the relief operations more difficult.
“It’s the injured who most urgently need help,” said Bill Berger, leader of the USAID disaster assistance response team.
The local government of Pakistani-held Kashmir estimated that at least 40,000 people died there. Officials reported another 13,000 deaths in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, and India said 1,360 people died in its portion of Kashmir.
In addition to those killed, some 80,000 people were injured in the October 8 quake and many are in desperate need of medical care. The United Nations has estimated 3.3 million were also left without homes and need food and shelter ahead of the winter, which was moving in rapidly.
Maj. Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan, Pakistan’s top relief official, said 33,000 tents and 130,000 blankets have been distributed to quake survivors. He said 260,000 tents and two million blankets were needed.
Packages of food and blankets have been dropped to more than 580 remote villages in the Muzaffarabad district, army spokesman Col. Rana Sajjad said.
“It’s very difficult to reach each and every place,” he said, adding many people had walked into the bigger settlements from the mountains seeking aid.
Eighty Pakistani soldiers were flown by helicopter into the Neelum Valley, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, to carry emergency rations and other relief supplies on foot to those in need, the army said.
Soldiers also drove mule teams with relief supplies to some of the region’s steep-sided villages, crossing people with bundles on their shoulders carefully walking down to lower elevations.
“There are serious patients with infected wounds and gangrene,” said Sebastian Nowak of the International Committee of the Red Cross, after a team of the group’s doctors landed in Chekar, about 65 kilometres east of Muzaffarabad.
In the part of divided Kashmir that India controls, torrential rain and snow hampered relief operations on Monday as roads to the badly hit Uri and Tangdhar areas were cut off from the rest of the region. Trucks loaded with supplies were stranded on mountain roads, and survivors huddled in rain-sodden tents and lit fires to keep warm.
Pakistan said it was willing to accept an offer from rival India to send helicopters for earthquake relief operations, but without Indian pilots - either military or commercial. The nations have fought three wars since 1947, but India has sent quake relief aid to its neighbor.
However, India Tuesday rejected Pakistan’s request. The India Foreign Minister “conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart that it would not be possible for India to provide helicopters, which are in service with its armed forces without pilots and crews” an Indian foreign ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has revised its Flash Appeal after the Pakistani quake upwards from US$ 272 million to US$ 312 million over six months, with the World Health Organisation reporting that less than 50% of the entire affected area has been accessed so far.
The UN has also scheduled an international conference next week on aid to earthquake-hit Pakistan, its humanitarian arm said.
Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the October 24 meeting was expected to bring together ministers from Pakistan and donor countries, plus international aid agencies and other relief groups.
The UN has so far received only US$ 6 million of the amount it appealed for after the earthquake, while donors have pledged another US$ 44 million.
Most of the aid has been in kind - ranging from food supplies to helicopter flight hours and the UN figure does not include all the direct aid to Pakistan offered by donor countries.
Although neighbouring India was also affected, the UN conference will focus on Pakistan because New Delhi has not asked for foreign aid, Byrs said.
