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| October 16, 2005 | Sunday | Ramazan 11, 1426 |
39,422 dead in Pakistan quake: official ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (AFP) - Pakistan's earthquake killed 39,422 people and injured 65,038 others, the nation's disaster response chief said Sunday, raising the confirmed death toll by nearly 1,500 people. "The number of casualties stand at 39,422 dead," Major General Farooq Javed told a news conference. He said the number of injured is 65,038 and that the toll could rise further. "Our priority for the next 24 hours is first to accelerate the distribution of aid and transport the injured by air as weather permits planes and helicopters to fly safely," he said. The disaster chief said flights to the worst-hit Kashmir region were grounded due to severe weather Saturday but some were operating to North West Frontier Province. A Pakistan army MI-17 helicopter crashed on Saturday in Bagh district of Kashmir, killing all six army personnel on board. Pakistan has been pledged 528.2 million dollars in financial assistance so far including 51 million dollars by the United Nations, the disaster chief said. Officials had previously said around 38,000 people died and 3.3 million were left homeless by the October 8 earthquake, which registered 7.6 on the Richter scale. The official did not update the number of homeless. The tremor also ravaged the Indian side of divided Kashmir, killing 1,329 people there, according to Indian police.(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Children found alive 8 days after Kashmir quake ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Four children, aged between a few months and nine years, were pulled alive out of the rubble of the Kashmir earthquake on Sunday, eight days after it pulverised a wide region and killed nearly 40,000 people. "Four children have been pulled out alive near the Balakot area," Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao told Reuters, referring to the worst-hit city in the North West Frontier Province neighbouring Pakistani Kashmir.(Posted @ 21:50 PST)
Six killed in Pakistani aid helicopter crash ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A Pakistan army helicopter crashed in Pakistani Kashmir during a relief operation for the earthquake-shattered region, killing all six soldiers on board, a military spokesman said on Sunday. "The Mi-17 helicopter crashed during daytime sometime on Saturday, when it went to provide relief items in some inaccessible areas in the Bagh valley," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters. "When it was going to Haji Peer Pak, which is a very difficult mountainous area, we lost contact with it," he said. The debris of the helicopter was found at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday (2030 GMT on Saturday), he said, and added that four of the soldiers killed in the crash were Pakistan Army officers. Sultan said it was not immediately clear whether the helicopter crashed because of bad weather or some technical fault. Flights were severely disrupted on Saturday by heavy rains and cloudy weather, and the bad weather was continuing on Sunday. (First Posted @ 09:05 PST Updated @ 10:40)
Pakistan quake survivors face death from cold and disease BALAKOT, Pakistan, Oct 16 (AFP) - Thousands of Pakistan quake survivors face death from cold and disease unless help reaches them fast, rescuers said Sunday as heavy rains drenched homeless victims and grounded vital helicopter airlifts for the second straight day. Frantic efforts to reach remote mountain villages, cut off by landslides and still in dire need of help one week after the quake, were dealt another blow with the crash of one of the helicopters flying relief missions. "It's absolutely urgent right now to send tents to give people shelter. If nothing is done there will be thousands of deaths," said Thierry Velu, head of the French aid organisation Groupe de Secours Catastrophe Francais.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Occupied Kashmir: 850 killed, 65 villages flattened in Uri area (SRINAGAR, Oct 16 PPI) In occupied Kashmir, 850 people died, 65 villages totally flattened and 22,000 houses were destroyed, in the Earthquake, Uri area, reports Kashmir Media Service. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Pakistan says order being restored after quake MUZAFFARABAD,Oct 16 (AFP) - The Pakistani military has started focussing on restoration of law and order and said Sunday it had arrested seven people who stole supplies destined for earthquake survivors. "Law and order has been properly restored," said Major Farooq Nasir, the army spokesman in Muzaffarabad. He said the military had secured 20 million rupees (335,000 dollars) for safekeeping from the national bank, and that thousands of dollars in gold had been retrieved from destroyed homes."All this has been handed over to the government" of Azad Kashmir, Major Nasir said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Kashmiri villagers unite to survive MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 16 (AFP) - There may no longer be any government to speak of, but in Kashmir's earthquake-ravaged mountains, villagers are taking order into their own hands, making sure the neediest are fed. In Monassa village, residents created a committee to distribute the donations fairly among the 65 surviving families. "We have the names of the families. When donations come in, we go to them and make deliveries door to door," said villager Nadim, 25. When a truck from the UN World Food Program came through with biscuits, the elders said they should go to the more distant hamlets. A bit further up in the mountains, the 15 families in Baglota have a similar pact. "Each family gets 10 kilos of sugar and rice. For the time being there's enough for 15 days”. In Balandkot village, residents firmly refused an offer of aid brought from visiting university students and instructors in Islamabad, redirecting them to a hamlet on the other side of the mountain. "Three villages refused aid. They said they had enough. They talked about the hamlet of Attayasa that you could only reach by climbing the mountain. It was totally destroyed -- 10 families completely abandoned," said teacher Arif Khattar, 30. They asked the survivors of Attayasa to come down to their trucks and the villagers went back with supplies on their backs like Sherpas. "The big problem is reaching little mountain hamlets that are completely destroyed but still have two or three houses," said World Food Program spokeswoman Mia Turner. "If it were a flat terrain we could use a helicopter. We were thinking about using donkeys but residents told us that they were dead too," she said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Helicopters now, mules later for quake aid ZIARAT, Pakistan, Oct 16 (AFP) - Helicopters from around the world have formed the backbone of efforts to help remote corners of quake-hit Pakistan, but when they go home relief officials say mules will take their place. Without the choppers the aid effort after the quake that killed at least 38,000 people would never have got off the ground. The bigger choppers ferry supplies to main towns like devastated Muzaffarabad and rush casualties back to the capital Islamabad -- 500 on Friday alone. The smaller ones drop food, blankets and tents to the crushed hamlets that litter the valleys of the quake zone, and evacuate thousands of often critically injured survivors. But the helicopters are vulnerable to weather -- and that is about to turn for the worse. Besides, time will come when the foreign fleet will go home. In that event, mules will ultimately bear the burden for getting supplies up twisting paths to cut-off villages. "They are capable of reaching the parts machines cannot reach," said a Pakistani army spokesman. Mules have already begun to lug heavy loads to isolated villages near Balakot. "It is a very technical business, loading a mule, and how much they can carry depends on how old they are, their size, a lot of factors.” "Yet there are some far-flung areas that are even too steep for mules, and when that happens it will come down to humans themselves. "Our soldiers are ready to hike to the villages the mules can't get to, and we know that local people will also help. We have no other choice." (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Heavy rains hamper Pakistan relief operations again BALAKOT, Pakistan, Oct 16 (AFP) - Heavy rains drenched northern Pakistan early Sunday bringing further misery and hampering relief operations for the millions left destitute by a massive earthquake. Balakot was turned into a bog after a night of rain. Hundreds of items of clothing that had been donated to survivors lay strewn on the ground. No helicopters carrying relief aid could be heard over Balakot. There was rain overnight in Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province also and more is expected later Sunday, Met Office said adding that weather was expected to improve by Monday. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
| All Branches of The State Bank of Pakistan |
| All Treasuries |
| All Branches of National Bank of Pakistan |
| All Branches of Habib Hank of Pakistan |
| All Branches of United Bank of Pakistan |
| All Branches of Muslim Commercial Bank of Pakistan |
| All Branches of Allied Bank of Pakistan |
| All Branches of Bank Al Falah and |
| All other scheduled Banks within Pakistan |
Donations, both from domestic and international donors can be deposited in the above branches of the Banks. Donations from abroad can be deposited at all the branches of above banks in foreign countries where such branches exist.
In other foreign countries where these branches do not exist donations will be recevied by the Pakistan Missions and remitted to the State Bank of Pakistan.
All proceeds recevied in the name of the Fund will be credited to the public account of the Federal Government under following Head of Account:-
| "G 12 Special Deposit Fund |
| G 121 - Relief Funds |
| G 12130 " President's Relief Fund for Earthquake Victims-2005" |
Further information and details can be obtained from the
following telephone and fax numbers:-
Phone No : 051-9208100, 051-9202528,
Fax No : 051-9207635
Important Emergency Numbers in Pakistan
Prime Minister House Earthquake Relief Cell: 051-9213891, 051-9222666.
Disaster Relief Cell, PM Secretariat: 051-920-6111
Crisis Managment Cell, Commander 111 Brigade, Rawalpindi: 051-926-7596
Foreign Office Emergency Coordination Centre Phone: 051-920-7663, Fax: 051-922-4205, 051-922-4206
Disaster Relief Cell, PM Secretariat: 051-920-6111
Crisis Managment Cell, Commander 111 Brigade, Rawalpindi: 051-926-7596
Foreign Office Emergency Coordination Centre Phone: 051-920-7663, Fax: 051-922-4205, 051-922-4206
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