MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 29: Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan on Saturday underlined the urgency of the situation arising out in Pakistan’s quake-hit region and called upon the international community to speed up aid efforts for the rehabilitation of victims.

“It’s very urgent to intensify efforts for the rehabilitation of the victims of this earthquake,” she told reporters after visiting a makeshift school alongside a tent village in Narul locality.

The queen, flanked by Special Education Minister Zubeida Jalal, had arrived here as a representative of the United Nations Fund for Children (Unicef) which has focused its attention to launch classes in the devastated government-run educational institutions.

Earlier, the queen mixed up with and consoled nursery students.

“I am especially worried about the plight of the thousands of orphaned and injured children. With care, their broken bodies will heal. But just as urgent and just as painful are the wounds, we cannot see the psychological trauma they have endured. They need our help and support. They are children. They cannot do it alone,” the queen said.

She observed that the earthquake that had struck Pakistan and AJK was one of the biggest natural disasters. The size and scale of the earthquake were devastating, but the emotional and physical aftershocks would become worst if the humanitarian aid effort was not increased immediately, she warned.

Noting that winter is only four weeks away, Queen Rania stressed that by then all the affected communities must be equipped with food, shelter, blankets and clothes. “If we do not act now thousands more innocent people are going to die.”

The queen praised the quake victims for their buoyancy.

“I am full of admiration for the people of this region for their courage and patience in these hard times. This bears testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.

“No one is to blame for this earthquake. Yet if none of us are responsible for the crisis, all of us have a duty to respond. I have seen the global response and I must tell you it’s not enough,” she said.

Queen Rania also visited the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences, where she was received by AJK Health Minister Masood Khalid. The queen inquired after the health of several quake survivors admitted there.

Jordan was among the first countries to send aid to Pakistan in the aftermath of the Oct 8 quake. King Abdullah II visited Pakistan on Oct 14, the first foreign head of state to do so after the quake. The kingdom has already sent five planes of relief goods to Pakistan and a 25-bed mobile hospital with a 50-strong staff.