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13-10-2005 Scotsman Still desperate, still without aid By Gethin Chamberlain FOOD and other relief aid flowed into more areas of northern Pakistan yesterday as hopes of finding many more survivors in the rubble faded. Trucks and helicopters filled with aid from dozens of countries choked the roads to the crumbling towns of Kashmir, but the hungry and the homeless in many hard-hit areas were still in desperate straits. Four days after the earthquake struck, many of the worst affected had yet to see any aid, despite huge pledges from around the world. The president, Pervez Musharraf, issued a fresh appeal last night for more international aid and called on his country to unite to face one of the worst tragedies in its history. Mr Musharraf asked his countrymen to show forbearance for delays in relief efforts and reminded them of the mountainous, remote location of the worst-hit areas. "This tragedy is much bigger than the capacity and capability of the government as a whole. We have to face this challenge." He asked for more donations, both from Pakistanis and from overseas, to a special fund set up to pay for the cost of rescue, relief and reconstruction, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. "I appeal to the nation to generously contribute to this fund. I would specially appeal to the business community, traders and industrialists," he said. "I appeal to the international community to donate funds, give financial assistance and donate to the president's relief fund." So far, Pakistan has received pledges of dollars 350 million (GBP 200m) from abroad in the wake of Saturday's quake, and the relief fund has raised dollars 16.6m (GBP 9.5m) domestically, the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said earlier in the day. But those working on the relief effort in Pakistan's North West Frontier province said resources remained stretched. "Every time we rush to one place we hear of another place that is worse," said army colonel YP Sayyaj, in the mountain town of Bata Mora. "I know people are suffering, but we have to prioritise. Everyone will get help in the end." Quake victims and international relief officials in India and Pakistan have all expressed frustration at the pace of relief work. A senior UN official said the operation had improved with the arrival of more helicopters, including some US military aircraft usually used in the war in neighbouring Afghanistan. "But in the areas rescue teams have not yet been able to reach, hope basically is fading," he said. Medical experts say an unhurt man can last three days without water and a woman four days, although in such disasters there are often extraordinary survival stories. Authorities are now most concerned about the weather and the onset of winter, which usually comes in mid- to late-October. Still, miracles continued amid the misery, with a Russian team rescuing a five-year-old girl trapped for nearly 100 hours in the rubble of Muzaffarabad. Almost exactly four days after the quake, rescuers pulled the girl, Zarabe Shah, from the rubble at 9am. "I want to drink," she whispered after rescuers plucked her from under what remained of the stairwell of her home. A day earlier, her neighbours had recovered the bodies of her father and two of her sisters. Her mother and another two sisters survived. Her uncle, Akmal Shah, held her tight as she described in a soft voice how she fell from the stairs when the quake struck. The stairwell shielded her from the debris above, and she survived without serious injury. At a camp for the homeless, an old man with a plastic bottle gave Zarabe tiny sips of water out of its cap. The 7.6-magnitude quake on Saturday demolished whole towns, mostly in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The death toll is believed to be more than 35,000, and tens of thousands more were injured. Helicopter pilots ferried as many wounded as they could to hospitals. "The problem we are seeing right now is that there's so many injured Pakistanis, we just can't take back everyone. We are limited for space," US military spokesman James Yonts said at a base near Islamabad. US, Pakistani, German and Afghan helicopters delivered tents, blankets and medical equipment, and brought back dozens of badly injured people on each return flight. The helicopters flew in clear skies yesterday after stormy weather forced the suspension of flights on the previous day. At a landing zone in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir, doctors selected the most severely injured for evacuation and held back those with less serious wounds. On a regional tour, US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, arrived in Islamabad, where Pakistani leaders appealed for tents, water, blankets and clearing equipment from the US. "We will be with you in your hour of need. We will be with you not just today, but also tomorrow," she said. Mr Aziz said small aircraft were able to land at Muzaffarabad's airport, but C-130 transport planes were still only able to airdrop equipment and supplies. The United Nations estimated that about four million people had been affected. It also warned that measles and other diseases could break out. How to help VISIT the Disasters Emergency Committee site at www.dec.org.uk or call 0870 6060 900. Many major aid agencies have joined forces for the DEC Asia Quake Appeal
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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