ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Thousands of quake survivors are caught in a desperate struggle for survival in the Himalayan cold and need urgent help, an international aid group said on Friday. “The falling temperatures could be lethal,” British-based Oxfam director Barbara Stocking told a news conference after a tour of quake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP.

Ms Stocking called for an enhanced international response to the United Nation appeal for around $550 million, launched in November, which had so far brought in only 40 per cent of the needed funds.

Children are falling sick in the freezing temperatures suffering from respiratory ailments while heating has been a problem because of the risk of tent fire, she said. Ms Stocking said Oxfam had provided shelter to 127,000 people and improved water and sanitation conditions for some 150,000.

“There is so much more that needs to be done urgently. We need to improve conditions in the spontaneous camps and reach those who have stayed further up the mountain,” she said.

Oxfam urged the international community to honour its pledges and deliver resources to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe.

Pakistan has received aid pledges of more than $6 billion, of which $2 billion is in the form of grants.—AFP