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| December 20, 2005 | Tuesday | Ziqa’ad 17, 1426 |
Cheney sees Pakistani quake devastation MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Dec 20 (Reuters) U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney saw first hand the destruction caused by Pakistan's October earthquake on Tuesday and hailed U.S. military efforts to help survivors. Cheney, who arrived in key ally Pakistan earlier on Tuesday, expressed America's sympathy to President Pervez Musharraf over the loss of more than 73,000 lives. He then travelled by helicopter to Muzaffarabad. "We're doing a great deal here and it's a remarkable success," Cheney said. In Muzaffarabad, Cheney visited a U.S. mobile army surgical hospital (MASH), where American medical teams have been helping survivors since October. "U.S. forces were able to move quickly…we were here in 48 hours and we've been here ever since." "It was a measure of the enormous capabilities of the U.S. military to be able to mount a humanitarian mission like this in a moment's notice," he said. Cheney was accompanied by his wife, Lynne, who chatted with some women and children waiting in line to get treatment. The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan Crocker, also accompanying Cheney on Tuesday, said he did not believe bin Laden was still in effective control of al Qaeda. Cheney was to arrive in Washington early on Wednesday, a White House official said on board the air plane as Cheney left Pakistan for Oman.(First Posted@ 11:58 PST Updated@ 20:05 PST)
Bus plunges off quake road in Pakistan; 20 dead MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, Dec 20 (Reuters) At least 20 people were killed and 25 injured in Pakistan on Tuesday when a bus plunged off an earthquake-damaged road into a river, police said. The accident occurred near the town of Chinari about 50 km southeast of Muzaffarabad. A police official said 20 bodies had been recovered but some people might have been swept away by the Jhelum river."We fear at least three to four people also drowned," he said. Several critically injured people were taken to field hospitals set up in the area to help survivors of the Octover 8 quake, he added.(Posted @ 15:10 PST)
NWFP to construct 100- house villages for quake victims Peshawar, December 20 (PPI) NWFP Labour ministry will develop villages of 100 housing units each for the earthquake victims where they will be provided high schools both for girls and boys besides the 25- bed health clinic, federal minister for labour Ghulam Sarwar Khan said Monday." Labour ministry will construct two-room houses with bath and the total cost of the project will be about Rs 350 million, he said while speaking at the Khyber Union of Journalists Program "Mulaqat". He said in his meeting with NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani he requested allotment of suitable sites for two of such proposed villages, and added that similar village will also be developed in Muzafarabad.(Posted @ 10:15 PST)
32 trucks of relief goods despatched from Punjab LAHORE, Dec 20(APP): 32 more trucks of relief goods were sent by Punjab government to devastated areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP province on Monday. Out of these 17 trucks were loaded with tents, 9 with blankets and 6 with food items, says a handout. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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