MUZAFFARABAD Nov 11: Children likely make up half of the 74,000 people who died in the quake, the United Nations said on Friday, confirming fears that the disaster had claimed a “lost generation.”

“We estimate that half of the death casualties were children, but many more were injured,” Unicef representative for Pakistan Omar Abdi told the Integrated Regional Information Networks, a UN-funded news agency.

“The data hasn’t been registered yet. But half of the population of Pakistan is under 18 so we would estimate out of those who have died, half are children,” Abdi added.

The October 8 quake hit at the start of a school day and there were immediate fears that children could make up the bulk of the casualties when it became clear that thousands of schools had collapsed.

Pakistan’s chief military spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, had told AFP two days after the disaster that “a whole generation has been lost” in Kashmir and North West Frontier Province. Local government figures show that around 17,000 students alone died, Abdi said, while there were many other young people who were not in school at the time.

“They have also been affected emotionally. Those that were going to school now find that there are no schools. They are at risk of diseases. As for the impact on children, it’s significant,” Abdi added.

Nearly four-fifths of all schools and public buildings collapsed in the quake, he said.

Women were badly hit by the quake as well as the young, Unicef’s Abdi added.—AFP