Pakistan rattled by aftershocks

Pakistan rattled by aftershocks THE SUN MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistani troops struggled yesterday to reach remote villages cut off since the massive weekend quake, as powerful aftershocks triggered panic among millions of homeless and traumatised survivors. Desperately-needed supplies were beginning to arrive in devastated northeast Pakistan, but not nearly enough to feed, clothe and shelter some 2.5 million people who have been sleeping out in the cold and rain since Saturday. Stunned villagers were also pouring out of the mountains into the devastated cities of Pakistani Kashmir in search of aid, forced to leave behind their dead and injured in remote settlements where rescuers have not yet set foot. "We are worried for them. We can't reach them by road so we have to use helicopter," said a Pakistani army colonel in charge of one of the units moving higher into the mountains. United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said: "We're still racing against the clock and we need to get more helicopters, more water, more tents and more money." Independent observers working in towns and villages now re duced to rubble have said the aid effort is poorly organised, with survivors left to fight over handouts from some 30 nations being delivered by truck and helicopter. Pakistan raised the official death toll to more than 25,000, with 63,000 injured, but aid workers believe up to 40,000 have been killed. On the Indian side of divided Kashmir, the toll has hit 1,329. The hardship has been compounded by a series of aftershocks, including a powerful tremor overnight which triggered panic on both sides of the heavily militarised Line of Control that divides Kashmir. "It shook us out of our beds. We fled outside in panic," teacher Muzaffar Wani said in Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir. In Islamabad, thousands of jittery residents rushed out of their houses and began reciting verses from the Quran, and later in the day rumours of another imminent earthquake sent them out on the streets again. Many buildings still standing after Saturday's quake have been left in a perilous condition, leading to fears that further tremors could bring teetering walls and roofs tumbling down. ­ AFP