ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: A Kashmiri human rights body on Tuesday criticized the rescue teams for allegedly throwing bodies into Neelum river along with debris. Speaking at a press conference here at the camp office of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club, Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Commission Chairman Humayun Zaman Mirza said: “The rescue workers are honestly doing their job, but some elements are persuading them to finish the problem hastily by throwing the bodies into the river without even informing their relatives.” “It is an insult to the quake-stricken people,” he said, alleging that all this was being done with the consent of the authorities.

According to the commission’s report, Mr Mirza said about 90,000 bodies in Azad Kashmir were still lying buried under the rubble, while the rescue workers had hardly retrieved 20,000 after the passage of 10 days.

The relatives of those who died in the quake and whose bodies were still lying under the rubble have been waiting with the hope that the rescue teams would retrieve the bodies, he said.

Mr Mirza called for establishment of an investigative commission under the chairmanship of AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat to arrest the culprits involved in looting of relief goods and alleged that some top AJK government officials were involved in it. However, he refused to take any names, saying after the establishment of the commission, the inquiry would reveal them to the world.

Responding to a question, Mr Mirza said communication links were still down in different remote quake-hit areas of Kashmir. He said the rescue teams had not yet approached some villages where a large number of injured persons were still waiting for help.

“There is no water or tents and the people, especially the infants, are shivering with cold and we fear that a large number of children would die due to extreme weather,” he said.

The commission’s chairman urged the international community, NGOs and donors to generously extend their assistance to the quake-wrecked areas as the people were in desperate need of tents, blankets and food items.