ALLAI, Oct 6: US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker said on Friday that the US aid for the quake-affected areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the NWFP could exceed $510 million.

Speaking to residents of the Allai Valley in Rashang, he said that Chinook helicopters also had begun ferrying reconstruction materials to remote areas of the Valley that was devastated in the October 8 earthquake.

“I am honoured to be here with you today as we mark the first anniversary of the terrible earthquake of October 8,” he said. “The losses and damage were enormous and so too was the response from the Pakistani government, the Pakistani army, the Pakistani people and the whole international community,” he added.

Mentioning the US role in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of the quake-hit areas, Mr Crocker said that the US helicopters, including the Chinooks, flew almost 6,000 missions, evacuating nearly 4,000 casualties and delivering thousands of tons of relief supplies.

“At the high point of the disaster relief effort, we had 21 Chinooks in the air over Pakistan. Colonel Bradley and his crews who are here today flew a lot of those missions. And I want to thank you for what you did at that time and thank you for coming back,” he added.

He said that military hospitals, both marine and army, treated some 35,000 patients. The USAID and the US military worked together and through NGOs to bring emergency shelter to over half a million people, he added.

“It was in the course of that disaster relief effort that I first came to know of the people of Allai through a number of visits to Mehra Camp. I was tremendously impressed by their courage and toughness and energy and readiness to get on with life in spite of the losses they suffered,” he remarked

The ambassador said the US had decided that their role in the relief work would not end. “The US has an obligation to do everything to help the great people of this valley return to their homes and return to productive lives,” he added.

In coordination with the Government of Pakistan through Erra, and in partnership with the ‘Save the Children’, the US had launched a major transition program in the valley and elsewhere, he said.—Online