Aftershock hits Pakistan as aid pours (AP) Updated: 2005-10-13 08:36
As rescue efforts gave way to aid relief, a strong aftershock shook Pakistan
early Thursday morning, five days after an earthquake killed tens of thousands
and left millions homeless.
Still, miracles emerged amid the misery: A Russian team rescued a 5-year-old
girl trapped for nearly 100 hours under the rubble of her family home.
It was not immediately clear if the 5.6-magnitude aftershock caused any
damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the aftershock was centered about 85
miles northeast of Islamabad.
Trucks and helicopters with aid from dozens of countries choked roads up to
the crumbling towns of the Himalayan region of Kashmir, but the hungry and
homeless in hard-hit areas remained isolated days after the temblor.
"No country is ready for such a disaster," said President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf in a nationally televised address, acknowledging delays in his
government response but saying that relief operations were now fully under way.
The 7.6-magnitude quake Saturday demolished whole towns, mostly in Kashmir,
divided by a cease-fire line between Indian and Pakistani territories. The death
toll was believed to be more than 35,000, with tens of thousands injured.
A chair is seen on the rubble of a collapsed
apartment complex destroyed in last Saturday's earthquake in the northern
Pakistani town of Muzaffarabad, Wednesday Oct. 12, 2005. Many bodies were
still buried beneath razed buildings, and the United Nations warned of the
threat of measles, cholera and diarrhea outbreaks among the millions of
survivors. [AP] | U.S., Pakistani, German and
Afghan helicopters delivered tents, blankets and medical equipment and brought
back dozens of badly injured people on each return flight. The choppers flew in
clear skies after stormy weather forced the suspension of flights Tuesday.
"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," U.S.
military spokesman Col. James Yonts said at a base near Islamabad.
At a landing zone in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's portion of
Kashmir, doctors selected only the most severely injured for evacuation.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Islamabad, where
Pakistani leaders appealed for tents, water, blankets and clearing equipment.
"We will be with you in your hour of need. We will be with you not just today
but also tomorrow," Rice said at a news conference with Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz.
Aziz said small aircraft were able to land at the airport in Muzaffarabad,
but C-130 transport planes still were only able to airdrop equipment and
supplies.
The United Nations estimated some 4 million people were affected, including 2
million who lost homes, and warned that measles, cholera and other diseases
could break out. Some 50,000 Pakistani troops joined the relief effort.
Washington has pledged $50 million in relief aid to Pakistan, a key ally in
its fight against terror. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
announced an additional $17.5 million, on top of $3.5 million already promised.
The World Bank said it would double its initial commitment of aid to Pakistan
to $40 million and said the long-term amount could run to hundreds of millions
of dollars.
Relief supplies poured in from about 30 countries — including 25 tons of
tents, medical supplies and food from longtime rival India. The Indian effort
was not without a glitch, however, as a plane from New Delhi was forced to turn
around because Pakistan said there was no room to land. The plane got new
clearance and arrived in Islamabad before dawn.
Most of the quake's victims were in Pakistan, with more than 1,400 people
killed in Indian Kashmir. New Delhi's aid offer and Pakistan's acceptance
reflect warming relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, who fought two of
their three wars over Kashmir and embarked on a peace process last year.
In Muzaffarabad, desperate residents mobbed trucks arriving with food and
water, grabbing whatever they could and pushing the weak aside.
Rescue workers fanned out from the town by helicopter to remote parts of
Kashmir — including eight teams from the British International Rescue Corps,
which has found 16 survivors since arriving in the quake zone nearly three days
ago.
"As time goes on, hope will get less and less. But you always do get
miracles," said Ray Gray, wearing a blue uniform and helmet as he prepared to
board a chopper. "Even if we just find one person, the whole effort is worth
it."
People can survive under rubble for up to seven days, but dwindling air
supply, injuries and dehydration take their toll on those clinging to life.
Five-year-old Zarabe Shah lasted almost exactly four days until Russian
rescuers with search dogs, listening devices and breath-detecting equipment
pulled her out at 9 a.m. Wednesday and took her to a camp for homeless quake
survivors.
"I want to drink," she whispered, her cropped hair caked with dust. An
elderly man fed her tiny sips of water from a blue plastic bottle cap.
On Tuesday, Zarabe's neighbors recovered the bodies of her father and two
sisters. Her mother and another two sisters survived Saturday's quake but gave
up Zarabe for dead and left Muzaffarabad for a less-damaged city.
Held tight by her uncle, she described how she fell from the stairs when the
quake struck. The stairwell shielded her from debris, and she survived without
serious injury.
The Russian rescuers who saved Zarabe alternated between digging and removing
heavy slabs of concrete, requesting silence from bystanders so they could get a
better fix on the girl's location. One of their tools was a machine that detects
carbon dioxide, a sign of breathing.
Some roads to the badly hit town of Bagh, southeast of Muzaffarabad, remained
blocked because of landslides. Dozens of bodies lay on the roadsides, and
residents appealed for heavy machinery to help them remove debris in hopes of
finding survivors.
"We need food, we need water, we need medicine," said teacher Abdul Qayyum,
standing near the rubble of his school.
Jan Vandemoortele, U.N. Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said key roads
into the quake zone that were blocked have been opened up.
"Relief material is moving in," Vandemoortele said in Islamabad. "It is
getting there. Roads are open now. They were blocked until very recently. We
have several trucks that are all loaded and on the road now."
Musharraf thanked all the countries for their assistance and made a point of
mentioning India's help. "The Indian prime minister was very kind to ring me up
and offer all possible assistance," he said.
Vandemoortele said there have been no reports of epidemics but that the
area's health infrastructure has collapsed. He said three field hospitals had
already been set up in Muzaffarabad and Bagh, and in the northern town of
Mansehra. Three more would be ready soon, he said.
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