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Quake Damage Mounts In Pakistan

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The Associated Press

Published: November 2, 2008

Updated: 11/02/2008 12:11 am

QUETTA, Pakistan - Relief workers are still finding mountain villages destroyed in the earthquake in southwestern Pakistan that have yet to receive aid, the Red Cross said Saturday.

The 6.4-magnitude quake hit an impoverished region near the Afghan border Wednesday before dawn, destroying 3,000 flimsy mud-walled houses. Officials say the official death toll of 215 is likely to rise past 300.

The United Nations said the jolt damaged 128 schools in the Ziarat district. In all, 108,000 people were affected, half of them children, UNICEF said late Friday.

Authorities and the army have been trucking tents, sleeping bags and food packages to villagers in Baluchistan province. However, survivors have complained about the pace of the relief effort.

At a clinic in the devastated village of Kawas, physician Nek Mohammed said he had treated 300 children since Thursday and that he hoped medicine would arrive soon.

"Most of them are developing the symptoms of pneumonia and that is inevitable given the serious cold they are exposed to," Mohammed said, as scores of people squatted outside waiting for treatment.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said there was still a "huge need" for tents and blankets. With winter closing in, tents need to be insulated or fitted with stoves, spokesman Marco Succi said.

He said relief teams were still finding tiny, remote villages that had seen no assistance.

"There are still zones to be covered - and quickly," he said.

The Red Cross and authorities were mustering antibiotics for the region's few clinics to combat a wave of chest infections among children.
UNICEF said it was trucking in water to the town of Ziarat in a bid to prevent an outbreak of cholera and diarrhea in young children. It appealed for $5 million from donors.

The United States said Friday it will provide an initial $1 million in assistance. China, Germany and other countries have offered financial help.

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