one in our suffering-Pakistani Quake

theist · 10-10-2005, 03:32 PM

ABC News
Hungry Pakistanis Wait for Quake ReliefShopkeepers, Looters Clash As Hungry Pakistanis Wait for Relief After Devastating Quake

Pakistani Kashmiri Mohammad Riaz comforts his daughter Shabana as they sit in a military truck in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, after arrival at Chaklala Air Base from an earthquake-affected area of Pakistani controlled Kashmir, Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. Aircraft rushed in supplies from abroad and Washington pledged US$50 million in aid as hungry families displaced in Pakistan's worst earthquake huddled in tents and shopkeepers clashed with looters. Death toll estimates ranged from 20,000 to above 30,000.

By SADAQAT JAN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan Oct 10, 2005 — Shopkeepers clashed with looters Monday, and hungry families huddled under tents while waiting for relief supplies after Pakistan's worst earthquake razed entire villages and buried roads in rubble. Death toll estimates ranged from 20,000 to 30,000.

British rescuers unearthed a man trapped in rubble for 54 hours, while residents using their bare hands and crowbars freed two girls buried in a collapsed border-area school for about 48 hours.

Setting aside decades-old rivalries, Pakistan said it would accept earthquake aid from India, and a top rebel commander reportedly ordered the suspension of violence in earthquake-hit areas of Indian Kashmir. Authorities in New Delhi promised delivery "on a very urgent basis."

Eight U.S. military helicopters from Afghanistan arrived in Islamabad with provisions, and Washington pledged up to $50 million in relief and reconstruction aid, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said.

"The magnitude of this disaster is utterly overwhelming," Crocker said. "We have underway the beginning of a very major relief effort."

The United Nations said more than 2.5 million people were left homeless by Saturday's magnitude-7.6 quake, and doctors warned of an outbreak of disease unless more relief arrives soon. The hardest-hit area was the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India.

With landslides blocking roads to many of the worst-hit areas, Pakistan's army airlifted food, water and medicine into the disaster zone. International relief efforts cranked into action, and an American plane full of relief supplies landed at an air base near Pakistan's capital Monday.

Most of the dead were in Pakistan's mountainous north. India reported at least 865 deaths, but Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said it was not expected to rise much higher. Afghanistan reported four deaths.

With the situation dire, Pakistan set aside politics and said it would accept relief aid for earthquake victims from India backing away from earlier refusals. The nuclear-armed neighbors have been bitter rivals since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, fighting three wars, but they have taken steps to improve relations since last year.