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| October 10, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 5, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistani military says 'whole generation' lost in quake ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (AFP) - A whole generation had been wiped out in the most devastated areas because of the weekend's huge quake, the worst affected being the schoolchildren, chief military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said . "Rescuers are pulling out dead children in Muzaffarabad but there is no one to claim the bodies which shows their parents are dead," he said. "Rawalakot has been destroyed. Muzaffarabad is 70 percent destroyed. There is not a single house in Muzaffarabad which has not suffered damage. There is not a single famliy there that has not suffered," he added. The UNICEF and a senior government official speaking on condition of anonymity said Monday that between 30,000 and 40,000 people had died. Witnesses and correspondents say schools collapsed in almost every town and village across the devastated northwestern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Many hundreds school-going boys and girls were trapped in the wreckage because the quake struck at the beginning of the school day. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
England's cricket tour to Pakistan won't be affected by quake: PCB KARACHI, Oct 10 (AFP) England's cricket tour to Pakistan later this month will not be affected by the weekend's huge quake, an official said Monday. "The tour will not be hit by the quake, instead the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has conveyed us to find ways to raise funds through cricket matches," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director Abbas Zaidi said. England's Ashes winning squad arrive in Pakistan on October 26 to play three Tests and five one-day matches. The first Test starts in Multan on November 12. Zaidi said the PCB chairman will meet his England counterpart David Morgan in Sydney and will discuss the matter further. The PCB official said there were also plans to hold an international fund raising match for the quake victims.(Posted @ 20:58 PST)
Pakistan confirms it accepts Indian aid offer ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (AFP) Pakistan's foreign ministry confirmed Monday that it had accepted an offer of aid from India in the wake of the weekend's huge earthquake. "Our High Commissioner was called by the Indian prime minister (Manmohan Singh) and we indicated our requirements," Pakistan's foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said. But she said "There is no possibility of joint relief operations on both sides of the LoC.” India pledged on Monday to send 25 tonnes of relief supplies to Pakistan. "The prime minister has directed that a consignment should be put together on an urgent basis and delivered to Pakistan," Indian foreign secretary Shayam Saran told reporters in New Delhi. "I think I could fairly confidently say that this would be the first time," since the 1980s when India airlifted relief supplies to Pakistan, Saran said. India planned to send the aid via plane on Tuesday, Saran said. "We understand that the items required include tents, blankets, mattresses, food items and a variety of medical supplies," he added.(Posted @ 20:54 PST)
Sikander Hayat says he’s prime minister of a graveyard MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 10, (Reuters) Sikander Hayat Khan says he’s prime minister of a graveyard, surveying his ruined capital from a tent where he has slept since a weekend earthquake destroyed towns and villages across Azad Kashmir. "It's the biggest natural disaster. It has totally paralysed Kashmir," he said from a tent on the lawn of his official residence in Muzzafarabad. "For the first two days we have been either digging ground to recover bodies or digging to bury them…Kashmir has turned into a graveyard." Like others, he expects the death toll to go well beyond 20,000 in Kashmir alone, without counting the dead from neighbouring North West Frontier Province. "We are fearing epidemic diseases if the situation remains unchanged. Water is polluted, dead bodies are still under debris, we are trying to control the situation but the magnitude of disaster is very great, so we are unable to do it quickly."(Posted @ 19:32 PST)
Kuwait donates 100 million dollars in aid to Pakistan KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10 (AFP) Kuwait on Monday announced a 100-million-dollar aid package for Pakistan which was hit by a devastating earthquake. Half of the amount will be offered in the form of relief assistance while the other 50 million dollars will be used to repair infrastructure damaged by the quake, said a statement issued after a weekly cabinet meeting.(Posted @ 19:24 PST)
Over 1200 bodies recovered from Batgram Batgram, October 10 (PPI) Over 1200 bodies were retrieved from different areas of Tehsil Bana Ellahi of Batgram, a local TV channel reported Monday. Ashol, Hilkot and Jareed villages in the Kaghan valley of Mansehra were also found totally decimated. 150 deaths were confirmed in the different areas of Saran, Mansehra, the report added.(Posted @ 17:38 PST)
Aziz asks volunteers to help quake victims ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday called upon volunteers especially the youth from all over the country to come forward and supplement the relief and rehabilitation efforts launched by the government in the wake of the massive earthquake. He was addressing the first batch of volunteers comprising qualified doctors, surgeons and paramedics being despatched to the earthquake affected areas of Mansehra for setting up a medical relief camp.(Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Quake death toll may touch 2,000 in occupied Kashmir JAMMU, Oct 10 (Reuters) Rescuers cannot reach thousands stranded high in the mountains of occupied Kashmir and as many as 2,000 people may have been killed by the weekend earthquake, a senior government official said on Monday. There was also a threat of flooding in Tangdhar as a landslide had blocked the Kishanganga river, the official added.(Posted @ 16:44 PST)
Pakistan reopens key roads to Kashmir, aid nears quake zones ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (AFP) Pakistani authorities reopened the only roads leading to quake-hit Muzaffarabad and Balakot and relief trucks and rescue equipment were nearing both towns, the military spokesman Shaukat Sultan said Monday. Sultan said authorities had reopened the two roads that lead to Muzaffarabad, one going through the hill town of Murree and another through Gari Habibullah. The road linking the north-western city of Mansehra to Balakot was also reopened, although a key bridge over the Kunhar river dividing Balakot remains unsafe, he said. "We are in a position to move the relief and heavy equipment to clear debris," he added. "Army trucks carrying relief goods are reaching that area now to Muzaffarabad and Balakot."(Posted @ 16:42 PST)
Pakistan stocks slip after quake but hold up well on reconstruction hopes KARACHI, Oct 10 (AFP) Pakistan share prices closed 0.25 percent lower on Monday, holding up relatively well after Saturday's devastating earthquake, dealers said. They said that there was some hope that reconstruction activity will provide support for select stocks to go forward. Also since the quake occurred in the undeveloped and poor northern part of the country, no major transport or industrial infrastructure was destroyed. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index lost 21.56 points at 8,520.82. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
No more threat of high magnitude earthquake: Met ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): Director General Metrological department, Dr. Qamar Zaman, said on Monday that the critical period of Saturday's earthquake would come to an end tonight (Monday night) and there was no threat of a high magnitude earthquake in the immediate future. In an interview to a local TV channel he said, 145 aftershocks have so far been recorded after Saturday's earthquake. He added that the chain of low intensity aftershocks may continue for three to four weeks, the frequency of which would gradually decrease with the passage of time. He also said that the biggest aftershock measured was 5.3 on the Richter scale which occurred on Sunday midnight. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Mirwaiz urges restoration of telephonic links SRINAGAR, Oct 10 (APP): Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has appealed the Indian government to restore the telecommunication links between occupied Kashmir and Azad Kashmir, Kashmir Media Service reported. The government of India should restore the long snapped telephone links between Azad Kashmir and occupied Kashmir so that people from both parts can find out the whereabouts of their kin in this hour of grave tragedy," Mirwaiz said while talking to the media here. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Japanese, Europeans, Arabs among missing in Islamabad flats ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) European, Arab and Japanese nationals were among about 45 people missing two days after a massive earthquake destroyed two apartment blocks in Islamabad, an emergency operations centre said on Monday. The emergency centre said there were 27 confirmed dead, and 45 were unaccounted for including an Iraqi family of four, a Swedish woman and her three children, two Italian men, a Spanish man, a Japanese man and another foreigner of unknown nationality. A Japanese man and infant, and an Egyptian man were already confirmed among the dead. "Today and tomorrow are crucial. An ordinary male can spend three days and a female four days without water if they're not injured," an official from Rapid UK, a British emergency relief team working with the Pakistan Army at the site, said. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Looting in quake-hit Muzaffarabad MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Oct 10 (AFP) Angry survivors looted supplies on Monday in Muzaffarabad more than two days after a massive earthquake devastated the city. Desperate residents ransacked military trucks which had just arrived in the city and took desperately needed relief goods including food, tents, blankets and medicines, a witness at the scene said. Others broke into a petrol station to get fuel to burn wood for cooking and warmth. "Everything is gone, people are buried alive, nobody is helping us to find them," a survivor said. Several dead bodies lay on the road while their stunned relatives sat on their haunches nearby. Hardly a single structure or building was left undamaged by the quake, witnesses added. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Occupied Kashmir freedom fighters call truce in quake areas SRINAGAR, India, Oct 10 (Agencies) The United Jihad Council(UJC) in occupied Kashmir in a fax statement said on Monday that it had suspended fighting in quake-hit areas even as Indian police reported fresh bloodshed in the bitterly disputed region. The UJC said Syed Salahudin, chief of Hizbul Mujahedin, "has directed its cadres to halt their operations in the affected areas." There was no immediate formal response from the Indian army, which continued its operations in occupied Kashmir. Amid the announcement of a truce, Indian police alleged that suspected militants had killed 11 people late on Sunday and early Monday. None of the militant groups operating in occupied Kashmir claimed responsibility. An Indian army official said eight militants were killed by troops late Sunday in occupied Kashmir's northern Gulmarg sector after they refused to surrender. However according to Kashmir Media Service, Indian troops of the three-Garhwal Regiment in Gulmarg area of Baramulla district, martyred eight youth during siege and search operations in Kokernag area. One Indian soldier was also killed and two others injured in the Kokernag, KMS added. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
No tools, no roads, little hope in remote Pakistani village ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (AFP) - In the remote quake-hit mountain village of Lamnian, most homes have been destroyed, there are no tools to sift through the rubble and residents are busy burying the dead. According to Jan-Peter Stellema, who works for the Paris-based medical aid charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) "people don't have tools or anything. It's such a disaster”. “I think there are still many dead under the rubble," Stellema told the BBC from the village, 15 kilometers from the Line of Control in Kashmir. "It's really terrible. All houses are destroyed. The whole bazaar has tumbled down," he said, adding that 60 children and their teacher had been killed when a village school caved in. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Two children pulled from wrecked Pakistan school 48 hours after quake BALAKOT, Pakistan, Oct 10 (AFP) - A 6-year-old boy and a girl were pulled alive from the rubble of a Balakot school in northwestern Pakistan Monday, two days after a massive earthquake brought their school crashing down. Volunteers and relatives of hundreds of parents at the Shaheen Public School helped to get the two children out of the debris. The boy who had swelling on his face, was found in the remains of the first floor gallery of the school. The girl, aged four, had some injuries on her face, witnesses said. Residents said up to 400 boys and girls were trapped in the school when it was toppled by the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck at 8:50 am (0350 GMT) on Saturday. Local volunteers said they had heard the voices of a few girls still trapped under the debris. "We hope to recover them and others alive," a volunteer said. In Balakot, two schools and an Islamic madrassa, or seminary, were toppled, with nearly 1,000 students thought to be buried in total. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Freezing quake survivors wait for help, death toll nears 20,000 BALAKOT, Pakistan, Oct 10 (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of quake survivors in the mountains of northeast Pakistan were Monday desperately waiting for help after spending a second night in freezing temperatures, as the confirmed death toll rose to nearly 20,000.The United Nations said more helicopters were needed urgently to bring rescue equipment and vital aid to stricken villages high in the Himalayas where roads had been destroyed by landslides. "We are seeing enormous suffering and facing enormous challenges," Jan Egeland, UN coordinator of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, said. "We're talking about millions affected by this." (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
US allocates up to $50 million in initial aid to Pakistan WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (AFP) - The United States has allocated up to 50 million dollars in initial aid to Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror that has been hit by a massive earthquake, the White House said late Sunday. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
SC directs IGP to register FIR against SP, SHO in Sonia Naz case ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Inspector General of Police Punjab to register a case against SP Investigation Khalid Abdullah and SHO Faisalabad Jamshed Chishti in the Sonia Naz alleged rape case. The court expressed displeasure over the non-registration of a case so far and said the case would be registered at Police Station Satto Katla, Lahore, according to the 65-page report inquiry report prepared by DIG Police, Zafar Ahmed Qureshi and SP Saad Akhtar Bharwana. The case was heard by a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice M.Javed Buttar. The bench also directed the IGP to supervise the case himself and depute an independent and competent officer not less than the rank of DIG for investigation. The court also directed the IGP to produce before it on October 17 a copy of the FIR along with progress report on investigation to be conducted against Khalid Abdullah and Jamshed.(Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Sharon-Abbas summit postponed for several weeks RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 10 (Reuters) Israel and the Palestinians postponed their first summit meeting since the Gaza pullout after preparatory talks failed on Monday to find a basis for its success. Announcing the delay, Palestinian presidential spokesman said "the meeting could take place at the end of the month or at the beginning of next month depending on the preparations."(Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Arab League convoy attacked in Baghdad, three policemen dead BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) Gunmen attacked a convoy carrying delegates from the Arab League in western Baghdad on Monday, killing three police escorts but leaving officials mostly unscathed, the Iraqi police said. Delegates from the Arab League, which groups 22 governments from across the Arab world, are in Baghdad to help oversee Saturday's referendum on a new constitution and to plan an upcoming visit by the its secretary-general.(Posted @ 21:25 PST)
U.N. elects five new Security Council members UNITED NATIONS, Oct 10 (Reuters) The United Nations on Monday elected the Congo Republic, Ghana, Peru, Qatar and Slovakia to two-year seats on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council. Four of the candidates were unopposed for seats earmarked for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Peru defeated Nicaragua, 144 - 43, for the sole contested seat, set aside for Latin America and the Caribbean.(Posted @ 21:20 PST)
UK shaves Iraq troop numbers in "routine" rotation LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) Britain said on Monday it would cut troop numbers in Iraq by 500 but stressed its capability in the south of the country would be unaffected. The announcement came three weeks after a riot in the southern city of Basra that exposed worsening tensions between British forces and militia there.(Posted @ 21:20 PST)
German parties back "grand coalition" plan BERLIN, Oct 10 (Reuters) Leaders of Germany's conservative and Social Democrat (SPD) parties on Monday approved a coalition plan that will see Christian Democrat, Angela Merkel, succeed Gerhard Schroeder as chancellor, party officials said. The executive board of Merkel's CDU party backed the deal she negotiated with her ally Edmund Stoiber of the Christian Social Union (CSU), SPD chairman Franz Muentefering and Schroeder, a source at the board meeting said. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Israeli, U.S. economists win Nobel for "game theory" STOCKHOLM, Oct 10 (Reuters) Israel's Robert Aumann and American Thomas Schelling won the 2005 Nobel economics prize on Monday for their "game-theory analysis", which can help resolve conflicts in trade and business, and even avoid war. Their studies have found uses in "security and disarmament policies, price formation on markets, as well as economic and political negotiations", said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarding the 10 million crown ($1.30 million) prize. "Game theory" is a science of strategy, which attempts to determine what actions different "players", be they trading partners, employers and unions or even crime syndicates, should take to secure the best outcome for themselves.(Posted @ 17:08 PST)
Afghan suicide attacks kill six, wound eight KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Oct 10 (Reuters) Two suicide explosions in Kandahar on Monday killed six people and wounded eight, officials said. They said a suicide bomber blew himself up in the city centre, killing a senior anti-Taliban commander, Agha Shah, and three others. Eight people were also hurt in the blast which was followed by a second in which a suicide bomber died on the road leading to the airport when a bomb strapped to his body exploded prematurely, Kandahar governor Assadullah Kahlid said.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 21.56 points: KARACHI, October 10: At close fo trading, the KSE-100 index was at 8520.82, down 21.56 points from Friday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:27 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, October 10: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.1 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:27 PST)
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