ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: The Northern Areas continued receiving aftershocks, on the third consecutive day on Saturday forcing the scared residents to stay out in freezing cold.

Despite the freezing cold and land-sliding a massive relief operation launched by the Pakistan Army continued with the military helicopters working round the clock to evacuate the people from the hard to reach areas.

An ISPR spokesman said that emergency aid was being provided through the helicopters and hundreds of wounded people have been evacuated from the worst-affected villages, to relief camps established in collaboration with the civil administration.

FCNA Commander Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, who is supervising the relief operation, said that the MI-17 helicopters were delivering tents, blankets and ferrying food aid to the affected areas being brought in by three C-130 transport aircraft from Islamabad.

He said that all possible measures were being taken to provide succour to the victims.

The APP’s Astore correspondent adds that the aftershocks and a tremor measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale on Friday caused injuries to another five, increasing the total number to 35.

The relief operations were hindered as with each tremor dust clouds rose, cutting down visibility, halting the flights of helicopters ferrying relief goods and medicines to the isolated villages.

The latest shocks triggered more landslides on the 90 kilometres long Astore road, which was closed after Thursday’s earthquake. Army engineers were trying to clear the road.

The strong aftershocks resulted in collapse of many more houses already weakened by the earthquake. Huge cracks had appeared on many a places in the mountains, and after-shocks were causing landslides, endangering the lives of the locals and rescue workers.

One local Abdul Rahim said, at night the aftershocks come with a rumbling noise and panicked women and children rushed out of the houses. Around 7,000 residents of Tarbling, Mushken and Dashken, some 60 kilometres west of Gilgit and once a popular tourist attraction, had been forced to stay in the open fearing more tremors and damage to the dilapidated buildings.

The area has been hit by a series of earthquakes since Nov 2. The earlier quake killed 11 persons, while 23 persons, mostly children, died in the earthquake on Thursday.

The earthquakes triggered a series of landslides closing down Pakistan’s only land link with China through the Karakoram Highway. The road was earlier cleared after around five days, but had been closed again near Tatta Pani.

The relief goods had to be dispatched to Gilgit by three C- 130 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force comprising 500 tents, 4,000 blankets, 55 sets of warm bedding, 20 bales of used clothing, 1,000 pairs of socks and 300 jerseys for Gilgit worth Rs3.3 million.

The government had urged the people to re-locate as the entire stretch around the Astore Valley was prone to the seismic activities.

Kashmir and Northern Area Affairs Secretary Javed Ashraf said that four NGOs — UK-based Islamic Relief, International Islamic Relief, Concern, and Catholic Relief — have also committed 2,000 tents, 7,000 blankets, clothing for children and food supplies.

In 1974, a devastating quake measuring six on the Richter Scale killed 5,300 people close to the town of Patan, some 150 kilometres along the Karakoram Highway.—APP