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| October 14, 2005 | Friday | Ramazan 9, 1426 |
UN says quake aid rush could be 'disaster within disaster' ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - UN relief chief Jan Egeland urged aid workers Friday to coordinate better to cope with the earthquake, saying the rush of help risked leading to a "disaster within a disaster.""My biggest worry today is that there will be tremendous bottlenecks," Egeland told reporters. "Already Muzaffarabad is a traffic jam." "We must now work seamlessly as Pakistani organizations and international organizations. If we don't, we will become a disaster within a disaster," he said. "Not so important consignments will come in the way of important consignments. Today the number one priority is to get to those who had nothing," Egeland said. He said every day between 60 to 100 trucks were coming to Muzaffarabad where the roads remain difficult to navigate because of the great amount of rubble. Egeland, who on Thursday toured the devastated area, said Friday he met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and was happy with his government's response. He said Pakistan has agreed to grant visas on arrival "for all aid workers for one to three months" and to accept all relief aid immediately and without customs fees.(Posted @ 18:48 PST)
Billions of dollars needed to rebuild Pakistan: UN ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - With vast parts of Pakistan still digging out from last week's earthquake, donors are already planning a massive reconstruction effort that will require billions of dollars over five to 10 years. "It will take billions of dollars to rebuild," UN relief chief Jan Egeland said after a two-day visit to see the destruction firsthand. "To reconstruct this will take five to 10 years," he told a press conference in Islamabad. But so far even the immediate needs -- such as tens of thousands of tents -- have gone unmet for survivors of last Saturday's earthquake, which left more than 25,000 dead, 63,000 injured and 2.5 million homeless in Pakistan alone. Egeland called for more aid from the international community, saying only 50 million dollars have been pledged of the 272 million dollars the United Nations asked for Tuesday to provide immediate assistance. "This is a good start but it is not enough. We need more money from more nations," Egeland said. He also said he was urging the world "to think of how much it takes to get a roof for more than one million people in the space of days and weeks. “We need tens of thousands of more tents." The Norwegian diplomat said that while the death toll from the earthquake would be much lower than the 217,000 killed in the tsunami, it was much more difficult to reach survivors in the mountains than it was on the ocean coasts. "An earthquake in the Himalayan mountains a short time before winter is in many cases a complete logistical nightmare," Egeland said.(Posted @ 19:44 PST)
King Abdullah of Jardon meet PM ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday appreciated the international response to the tragedy caused by October 8 earthquake. The Prime Minister appreciated Jordan's support for the quake-hit victims as King Abdullah assured all assistance to Pakistan in this hour of need. King Abdullah held talks with President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Aziz and also offered his condolences on the loss of lives in the calamity. Jordan was among the few countries which immediately responded to Pakistan's appeal for the international assistance to the earthquake-hit areas. The Prime Minister said Jordan has sent two plane loads of relief goods and more assistance from the country was on the way. Earlier in the day, Prince Rashid Bin Al Hassan of Jordan also called on the Prime Minister to discuss relief efforts. (Posted @ 23:25 PST)
India's second batch of aid arrives in Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 14 (AFP) - A train loaded with a second consignment of Indian relief supplies for earthquake victims arrived here late Friday through the Wagah border. It consists of 68 tons of relief materials, which is made up of 5,000 blankets, 320 tents and 4.5 tons of plastic sheets, an Indian foreign ministry official said in New Delhi.(Posted @ 21:34 PST)
Dubai Islamic Bank donates 500,000 Dirhams ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP):Dubai Islamic Bank has donated 500,000 Dirhams to the President's Relief Fund for the earthquake victims. Employees of DIB have separately contributed Dhs. 100,000 worth of tents which are being airlifted to Pakistan.(Posted @ 20:15 PST)
British rescuers in Pakistan quake still hopeful ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) – British rescuers believe they may still find people alive in the rubble of a 10-storey building that collapsed in Islamabad in Saturday’s massive earthquake. There are still 30 people missing after 47 were reported dead and 89 injured. "We are only here because we believe we may find somebody alive," says Anthony Thomas, a member of the Rapid UK team that has rescued seven people so far. One of the two Rapid UK teams left Islamabad on Friday as the search area has become too small for two teams to work on. The remaining team will continue to look for survivors for at least one or two more days. Specialist teams from other countries, including the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are also helping the rescue effort. Members of another Rapid UK team assessed collapsed buildings in Azad Kashmir, but found there was little chance of many air pockets due to the design of the mainly two-storey buildings.(Posted @ 20:05 PST)
ICRC to send emergency supplies from Kenya to Pakistani quake victims NAIROBI, Oct 14 (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday it would airlift emergency relief supplies to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan from its warehouse in the Kenyan capital, its largest in the world. The first of three ICRC flights that will carry 120 tonnes of food and a mobile kitchen is to depart Nairobi for Peshawar on Sunday, it said in a statement. Other shipments have or will soon arrive from ICRC warehouses in Geneva, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, it said.(Posted @ 19:48 PST)
UN says Pakistan rebuilding to cost billions ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - It will cost billions of dollars over five to 10 years to rebuild areas of Pakistan and Kashmir devastated by the South Asian earthquake last week, the top UN relief coordinator said Friday. "It will take billions of dollars to rebuild ... To reconstruct this will take five to 10 years," Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland told a press conference here.(Posted @ 17:04 PST)
UN's Egeland calls end of quake rescue phase a 'cruel reality' ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - UN relief chief Jan Egeland said Friday that it was a "cruel reality" that survivors were unlikely to be found six days after the massive earthquake. "First there is the search and rescue phase that is now ending," Egeland told a news conference. "It is a cruel reality." "There are always some miracles, children you find two or three weeks after. But you can see days three and four when we really came to full steam that we really found people, days five and six there were much fewer and day seven we don't know if there will be anyone," he said. "But certainly the Pakistani army is continuing to look for people," Egeland said a day after he toured the devastated quake-hit area by helicopter. The Pakistani army has insisted that it has not given up the search for survivors although rescue teams have been pulling out nearly a week after the earthquake that killd more than 25,000 people in Pakistan.(Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Quake survivor crosses Kashmir ceasefire line on trek home URI, occupied Kashmir, Oct 14 (AFP) - A Kashmiri who took a trans-border bus to Pakistan before last week's earthquake said he trekked back home across the LoC on Friday. Javed Ahmed, 36, said he crossed the LoC with the help of troops on both sides. “I had gone to Azad Kashmir on October 6 in the recently launched bus service, and was stuck up there. So I walked back," he told AFP in Uri, five kilometres from the LoC. He said he trekked 70 kilometers to reach his home in Uri's Dardkote village to find his house flattened but his family members alive.(Posted @ 19:22 PST)
Germany gives five million euros, plus grants to quake-hit Pakistan BERLIN, Oct 14 (AFP) - Germany has donated more than five million euros (six million dollars) in aid to the victims of the devastating earthquakes in Pakistan, the foreign ministry said on Friday. Around 3.25 million euros has been paid to United Nations organisations such as the UNICEF, while the rest is supporting the work of German humanitarian organisations. Germany is also to make long-term grants of 10.6 million euros to Pakistan to fund reconstruction, Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said.(Posted @ 19:08 PST)
NATO to send base camp equipment to Pakistan BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (AFP) - NATO is to send equipment on Saturday to Pakistan for setting up a base camp for the UN World Food Programme to help victims of a deadly earthquake there, the military alliance said. An Antonov cargo plane is to transport the material, which has been donated by Sweden, to Pakistan where it will be used in Muzaffarabad to distribute food to victims. NATO deputy assistant secretary general Maurits Jochems will go along in order to liaise with Pakistani officials. NATO sent a first cargo plane carrying aid on Wednesday, a spokeswoman said. NATO has also diverted aid to Pakistan from the NATO-led ISAF peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
India offers 2,300 dollars for families to rebuild quake-destroyed homes SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Oct 14 (AFP) - India will pay 100,000 rupees (2,325 dollars) each to the owners of thousands of homes razed in occupied Kashmir by the earthquake last week, a state official said Friday. New Delhi would also give 10,000 rupees (232 dollars) each to families whose houses were partially damaged."Besides, the Indian government will provide cement, wood, steel and other house-building material to the victims," the official said. Government would also build 20 community centres, each with a capacity to house 3,000 people, he added.(Posted @ 19:02 PST)
Muslims mourn quake victims at emotional Friday prayers MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - Muslims across South Asia on Friday held emotional prayers for the victims of the massive earthquake, both the tens of thousands killed and those survivors now suffering from cold and hunger. Clerics honoured the dead in crowded mosques across Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, urging the faithfuls -- even those in the quake disaster zone -- not to abandon their Muslim rituals, like Ramadan fassting. Across Pakistan, the country hardest hit by Saturday's massive 7.6-magnitude quake, the faithful heeded President Pervez Musharraf's call for special Friday prayers, with some spilling out of mosques to pray in streets and parks. In the devastated city of Muzaffarabad, hundreds offered prayers at the three mosques that remain more or less intact following the quake. In occupied Kashmir, thousands attended a "solidarity prayer" at the 17th-century Jamia Masjid in Srinagar. They also launched a fund-raising drive at which people emptied their pockets at donation centers.In Sri Lanka, minority Muslims across the island offered special "janaza" prayers, and appealed for donations to the quake relief effort.Across Muslim-majority Bangladesh, faithfuls packed mosques , with 10,000 people praying at the national mosque in central Dhaka.(Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Pakistan military denies quake rescue operations called off ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) Pakistan's chief military spokesman insisted Friday that the search for survivors caught beneath the rubble of last week's earthquake would continue, after officers in the disaster zone said they had been called off. "We have not lost hope for survivors to be found. Relentless efforts continue to rescue the survivors and at the same time relief efforts are in full swing," Major General Shaukat Sultan said in Islamabad. "No decision has been taken to discontinue the search for survivors." (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Jordan's king makes Pakistan quake visit ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived here on Friday to offer sympathy over Pakistan's earthquake tragedy after being one of the first leaders to offer aid, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his deputy Khusro Bakhtiar received King Abdullah at Chaklala military base near Islamabad. Abdullah is the first head of state to come to Pakistan since last Saturday's earthquake. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland visited Pakistan earlier this week.(Posted @ 18:25 PST)
U.S. speeds relief aid to quake-ravaged Pakistan WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (APP): The United States is sending additional 130 tons of relief provisions, including food, water, housing materials, cargo handling equipment and medical supplies, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told a news Briefing Friday. There are currently 10 U.S. military helicopters flying in support of relief efforts in Pakistan, and four more are expected Friday, with 20 to 30 more expected to arrive in the area next week, Ereli said. Most roads in the afflicted area have been destroyed, making helicopters crucial to the relief effort. Ereli said that by Friday the United States will have delivered a total of 350 tons of supplies to the region, by helicopters and planes, and that the U.S. agency expects to deliver enough medical supplies to treat 100,000 people for three months.(Posted @ 17:15 PST)
Another strong aftershock jolts quake-hit Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - Pakistan was jolted by another strong aftershock before dawn Friday, six days after an earthquake caused widespread devastation in the country's north, the seismological department said. The aftershock with a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale was felt at 1:49 am (2049 GMT), department official Ishtiaq Ahmed said. It was the second straight night that a tremor was felt in the capital Islamabad, where residents have been panicked about another major earthquake.The early-morning earthquake's epicentre was located about 200 kilometers east of Peshawar near the area of Saturday's tremor registering 7.6 that has killed more than 25,000 people.There were no immediate reports of damage from the latest quake.(Posted @ 16:58 PST)
Donors eye 'much larger' Pakistan reconstruction bill: British official ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (AFP) - International donors are already considering Pakistan's reconstruction needs following its devastating earthquake, and expect to make a "much larger" aid offer, a British diplomat said Friday. Yusaf Samiullah of the Department for International Development at the British embassy here said: "The reconstruction planning started yesterday (Thursday)". He said international donors such as the World Bank, Britain and Japan would form a team of experts to survey Pakistan's requirements and come up with a detailed reconstruction proposal for the Pakistani government. He said the UN appeal for 272 million dollars, launched Tuesday, was a stop-gap measure for short- to medium-term relief and a subsequent appeal for reconstruction funds would involve a "much larger number". "This much larger number will be clear in about four to five weeks because the expert teams will have much more detailed calculations," he said.(Posted @ 16:34 PST)
EU approves further aid for Asian quake victims BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (AFP) - The European Commission has approved a further 10 million euros (12 million dollars) in aid for victims of the earthquake centred on Pakistan, a spokesman said Friday.(Posted @ 16:28 PST)
Occupied Kashmir quake-hit survivors fear death as bitter winter looms MASERU, Oct 14 (Reuters) Occupied Kashmiri villager Rajbibi said it was a miracle that she survived last week's deadly earthquake. The 60-year-old woman fears she may not be as lucky when temperatures dip to freezing levels during the fast-approaching winter. "I'd rather die than live like this," she said lying on pine branches under a plastic sheet held up by wooden sticks. Officials in the Karnah region of occupied Kashmir said there were tens of thousands of homeless on this side of Kashmir too who were seriously under threat. Many survivors complained that neither had they got tents nor have they been promised alternative housing. "Tents are more valuable than gold," a villager from Dildar said. Authorities said they were trying to provide tents to the homeless but there were not enough to go around in time. In Karnah for instance, there were 2,000 tents against a requirement of 8,000. Desperate people were getting hurt in fights over blankets and tents. Abdul Hameed Qureshi, a labourer from Kandi village near Dildar, was beaten up during a mad scramble for blankets. "I just wanted to grab a blanket for my children," he said.(Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Occupied Kashmir quake-hit survivors fear death as bitter winter looms MASERU, Oct 14 (Reuters) Occupied Kashmiri villager Rajbibi said it was a miracle that she survived last week's deadly earthquake. The 60-year-old woman fears she may not be as lucky when temperatures dip to freezing levels during the fast-approaching winter. "I'd rather die than live like this," she said lying on pine branches under a plastic sheet held up by wooden sticks. Officials in the Karnah region of occupied Kashmir said there were tens of thousands of homeless on this side of Kashmir too who were seriously under threat. Many survivors complained that neither had they got tents nor have they been promised alternative housing. "Tents are more valuable than gold," a villager from Dildar said. Authorities said they were trying to provide tents to the homeless but there were not enough to go around in time. In Karnah for instance, there were 2,000 tents against a requirement of 8,000. Desperate people were getting hurt in fights over blankets and tents. Abdul Hameed Qureshi, a labourer from Kandi village near Dildar, was beaten up during a mad scramble for blankets. "I just wanted to grab a blanket for my children," he said. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Pakistan forecasts bad weather in quake area ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) Thunderstorms and rain was expected in the next 48 hours in Pakistan’s quake-hit areas, followed by a cold wave that threatens to disrupt a massive emergency effort to assist millions of people. Pakistan's Meteorological Office said the westerly weather system was likely to approach Pakistan later on Friday. "This weather system is likely to cause widespread thunderstorms/rains, especially in the earthquake-affected areas, during the next 48 hours," it said in a statement, adding that the weather system would be followed by a cold wave. (Posted @ 13:35 PST)
Pakistan shares keep rising in quake aftermath KARACHI, Oct 14 (AFP) Pakistani share prices rose 1.1 percent Friday amid sustained optimism that the country's devastating earthquake could be good for business once a major a reconstruction drive gets into gear, dealers said. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index gained 99.40 points to close at 8,860.90, more than making up for a 0.33 percent slip a day earlier due to profit-taking. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Villagers recount quake horror in the mountains MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 14 (AFP) Villages wiped off the map, bodies rotting, survivors walking hours for water, earthquake victims fleeing Kashmir's still inaccessible mountains recount the same apocalyptic tales. "There were 100 houses and they were all demolished. Not one is left," Gulzman, an 80-year-old survivor from the village Petehka, 15 kilometers south of Muzaffarabad, said. "The schools crumbled down on 3,000 schoolchildren and 1,000 high school children. None of them could escape," he added. A similar tragedy unfolded in Seabur, 20 kilometers south of Muzaffarabad. "Only those who were outside survived," said Mir Arif, a 30-year-old civil servant. Some 500 houses were flattened and 150 people were killed, with more than half of them still buried, he said. Ashiq Hussain, a 50-year-old teacher, said there was also a desperate struggle for life in his village of Balgran, 45 kilometers south of Muzaffarabad, where some 300 bodies were found under the rubble. Half of Dhanni village high in the mountains fell in or across the Neelam river. Some 900 people were believed to be dead in that village, with 225 bodies recovered, residents who escaped said. A UN official said the situation remained particularly desperate in the outlying villages. "They haven't received any supplies. There are villages that are remote and small hamlets scattered everywhere. There is no access by road," he said. "They're hungry. Many of the injured won't survive." (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Police arrest 19 aid fraudsters in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Oct 14 (AFP) Nineteen people were arrested in occupied Kashmir on charges of fraud for collecting earthquake aid money, police said Friday. "Some of these people do not even belong to Kashmir and just came here to cash in on the emotions of the people," a police official said. "We will not tolerate this." The police official added that only accredited agencies were qualified to collect funds and relief for quake victims. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
India's second aid delivery departs via train for Pakistan NEW DELHI, Oct 14 (AFP) A train loaded with a second batch of Indian humanitarian aid for earthquake victims in Pakistan departed the capital New Delhi on Friday, a railway official said. "The supplies total 82 tons which includes 5,000 blankets, 370 tents, five tons of plastic sheets and 12 tons of medicines," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday and will enter Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah route by late Friday. (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Quake deepens fissures in occupied Kashmir despite army help SALAMABAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) After pulling his three daughters out of the rubble of his house and burying them, Mohammad Sadiq sat down in his village Salamabad in occupied Kashmir and waited for help to come. Five days after last week's South Asian earthquake he was still waiting. "The government of India is sending relief to Pakistan, and they are not helping us, who they claim are their people," a farmer from nearby Gawalan village said. "It was a golden opportunity for the government of India to show a human face," said Yasin Malik, head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. "But the government missed the opportunity," he added. But if many were angry at New Delhi for not responding more quickly to the disaster, what really surprised and hurt the Kashmiris was the tepid response of ordinary Indians. "When the tsunami happened, when the Gujarat earthquake happened, Kashmiris donated money and were involved in the aid effort," a teacher at the Kashmir University in Srinagar said. "But this time we have not seen Indian civil society moving to help Kashmir." Stung by Kashmiri criticism, many Indian firms, industry groups and global companies operating in the country were coming forward to contribute aid, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Friday. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Pakistan quake survivors suffer through aftershock MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 14 (Reuters) Survivors of the earthquake spent a sixth night in the open in the worst-hit city of Muzaffarabad, kept awake by the rumble of aid trucks and an aftershock early on Friday that set dogs howling. The aftershock measured 5.3 magnitude at around 2 a.m. (2049 GMT) on the U.S. Geological Survey's sensors. Local meteorological officials said there were 70 aftershocks in a 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday, and the seismic activity was likely to continue for months and maybe years. The aftershocks added to the misery of an estimated 3.3 million people affected by the quake, more than a million of them without homes and in desperate need of food and water but also tents and mobile latrines. With winter approaching, their survival is becoming a major worry. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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