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| October 23, 2005 | Sunday | Ramazan 18, 1426 |
Top US general visits Pakistan quake zone as aid trickles in MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 23 (AFP)US Central Command chief General John Abizaid toured areas of Kashmir which were devastated by the massive October 8 quake and promised more US relief aid. "The scope of devastation is gigantic. The level of work which has to be done is very immense," said Abizaid after a briefing with Pakistani military officers here. "So we're bringing in as much as we can. I know that NATO forces will be coming and certainly we're bringing more forces from the US, more helicopters." said Abizaid(Posted @ 22:55 PST)
Saudi TV campaign raises $32 mln for Pakistan aid RIYADH, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A Saudi television appeal has raised 121 million riyals ($32 million) to help survivors of Pakistan's devastating earthquake, the official Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday. King Abdullah gave 10 million riyals and Crown Prince Sultan gave 5 million to Saturday's appeal. Donations to the state-organised campaign may continue for another week. Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated 20 million riyals during the television telethon, his Kingdom Holding Company said in a statement. Earlier this month, Abdullah said Saudi Arabia was sending 500 million riyals to help aid and reconstruction after the October 8 earthquake which killed at least 53,000 people. Saudi charities are prevented from transferring money abroad under measures introduced after September 11, 2001, aimed at preventing the donations being diverted to militants.(Posted @ 22:10 PST)
US Army mobile field hospital arrives ISLAMABAD, October 23 (PPI) The U.S. Army's only mobile field hospital arrived here Sunday to help victims of the earthquake disaster in the devastated areas of NWFP Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Germany-based Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH unit, was going to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, where it will set up a 44-bed facility. Complete with two operating theaters, able to perform 20 major operations daily.(Posted @ 22:05 PST)
Strong aftershock rocks quake-hit Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (AFP) - A strong aftershock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale jolted Pakistan Sunday in the latest tremor after the devastating October 8 earthquake, an official said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The tremor was felt at 8:04 pm (1504 GMT) with its epicenter near Mansehra about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad, seismological department chief Qamaruz Zaman told AFP. The tremor was felt in Islamabad and in Kashmir. People rushed out of their homes after the aftershock that lasted several seconds, witnesses said. "It was a moderate aftershock," seisological official Mohammad Rafiq said. The earthquake of 7.6 on the Richter scale on October 8 killed 53,000 people in Pakistan and 1,300 in Indian Kashmir. Two aftershocks jolted northern Pakistan Sunday morning.(Posted @ 21:52 PST)
Body on an Indian and victim of quake disposed off with rituals MANSEHRA Oct 23 (APP): The body of an Indian citizen Basti Lal who died in earthquake of October 8, was recovered of the debris after hectic efforts and disposed off on Sunday with rituals in the presence of his family members at Ghari Dopata. Earlier, six of his companions who were evacuated alive by Pakistan Army Helicopter from Ghari Dopata few days back were handed over to Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan. These seven Indians had come to see their relatives by Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service and became victim of the devastated earthquake.(Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Senior US general to visit Pakistani quake zone ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (AFP) - US Central Command chief General John Abizaid is expected to visit earthquake-hit areas of Pakistan on Sunday, a Pakistani defence ministry official said. General Abizaid will visit the affected region in the north of the country, He will also hold talks with Pakistani officials on the relief effort, ahead of a meeting of aid donors in Geneva on Wednesday where the United States is expected to push for a greater international response. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
World failed to grasp scale of South Asian quake disaster: UN official MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 23 (AFP) - The international community failed to grasp the scale of the South Asian earthquake and more than two weeks after the disaster, the response is still not enough, a UN relief official said Sunday. Rashid Khalikov, the UN humanitarian aid area coordinator in Muzaffarabad, said international relief agencies were "still coming to grips" with the disaster, which killed more than 50,000 people and left more than three million homeless in difficult mountain territory. "Two weeks after the earthquake that devastated this region countless thousands (of people) need to be reached in high-altitude terrain," he told reporters. "In the first few days after the earthquake the world clearly did not comprehend the magnitude and complexity of the disaster. "Even now we are still coming to grips with the extent of the people's needs as new information comes in from previously inaccessible areas." He said UN agencies, working alongside the Pakistani army and independent non-governmental groups, had distributed 60,000 tents -- nowhere near enough to protect the millions of destitute from the increasingly cold nights. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)
China to help Pakistan develop a network for monitoring earthquake disaster BEIJING, Oct. 23 (APP): China is willing to help Pakistan in the field of seismology including monitoring and handling of earthquake disaster, said Chen Jianmin, a senior official of China Earthquake Administration. "As a close neighbouring and friendly ountries, we can work together on long-term basis, developing a strong methodology to deal with the natural disaster," he said (Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Quake aid gains momentum MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Oct 23 (Reuters) – International efforts to help survivors of Pakistan's devastating earthquake gathered momentum on Sunday as aid officials warned time was running out for untold numbers of survivors. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Australia boosts quake aid to Pakistan SYDNEY, Oct 23 (AFP) - Australia said Sunday it would increase its aid to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan by four million dollars (three million US dollars), to a total of 14.1 million. The new funds would be provided to international organisations and Australian NGOs to source food, medicine and blankets, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
At quake's ground zero, Pakistani soldiers battle nature to reach NEELUM VALLEY, Pakistan, Oct 23 (AFP) Using picks, shovels, bulldozers and dynamite, Brigadier Inamul Haq's 5,000 battle-hardened soldiers have been working non-stop to open a key supply route in Neelum Valley amid warnings that many of the 3.3 million people left homeless by the massive October 8 tremor could die of the cold and disease. "We are racing against time. I wish the day (had) 48 hours," the brigadier told journalists who accompanied an army convoy Saturday that delivered water and other supplies near what was left of Khansar, a village in Neelum Valley about 10 kilometers north of Muzaffarabad. What was once the "paradise valley," is now a wasteland. Six peaks of the mountain range were totally crushed, burying entire communities and changing the landscape of this part of Kashmir. The daunting mission is to clear a 60-kilometer (35-mile) stretch of road from debris and finally give aid agencies and relief organizations access to isolated villages. So far the troops have cleared less than 10 kilometers. A few meters ahead, a road that was cleared of debris the previous day is once again covered by earth. That is the kind of problem every few yards, and daily. The entire road network will likely not be fully rehabilitated for years to come, Brig Haq says. "But if we manage to open up these routes for supplies and even for people to walk and for mules to service, then we have done our job." (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Pakistan scrambles to make enough tents for quake survivors KARACHI, Oct 23 (AFP) - Pakistan has banned export of tents and is buying them urgently from all over including India to ward off a second wave of deaths owing to severe winter in quake-hit regions of NWFP and Azad Kashmir. However, many fear that no matter how many extra hours the factories clock in, there may simply never be enough tents to cope with the demand. A leading tent manufacturer of Karachi has a backlog of 30,000 tents to complete by the end of the month. "In normal circumstances we can even make 1,000 tents a day but not during Ramadan, when we can't force the labourers into extra work," factory chief said. Meanwhile, there has been a big leap in prices as well. "Material suppliers have drastically increased the price of components like pipes and yarn. Now the average cost comes to around 5,500 rupees (92 dollars) from 3,000 rupees (50 dollars) to make a single roof tent and it doubles for a double roof tent," a manufacturer said adding that his company had an order of 25,000 tents but might not be able to meet it because of shortage of materials. Pakistani companies are producing around 30,000 tents per day, an industry spokesman said. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
