Asia Quake Update

More than 50,000 people were killed and as many as 3.3 million people were left homeless by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 8 October.

The situation remains critical as emergency teams struggle to cope with the sheer numbers of people injured, enormous logistical challenges, and deteriorating weather conditions.

Second Wave of Death

Senior international aid officials have described the relief operation in Pakistan as the most difficult the world has ever known.

A second wave of death is beginning as infections spread among injured survivors. In the worst cases, wounds are becoming gangrenous or infected with tetanus.

It is estimated that around 30 percent of the affected areas, roughly 200,000 people, have not received any aid.

Three-week window

There are three weeks left to get shelter to the three million homeless people in Kashmir and the North Western Frontier Province. The first snowfall is expected in mid-November and the UN WHO has warned that survivors may die of hypothermia if they still have no shelter by then.

Around 540,000 tents are needed to protect homeless survivors from the harsh Himalayan winter. Officials fear that they will be around 200,000 tents short.

There are also challenges reaching remote areas. UN officials have called for more helicopters to help get tents out to survivors.

Many roads remain blocked by landslides and damaged by the quake. The Pakistan army is working round the clock to open roads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province. Where roads have not been opened, mules are being used to get aid into the affected areas.

Muzaffarabad

The city of Muzaffarabad lies in ruins. Roads, buildings, hospitals, schools and houses have been destroyed and power lines are down. There is no infrastructure left in the city. The whole district suffered 80percent damage, leaving nearly 820,000 people affected by the disaster.

Thousands of survivors who lost their homes now live in "tent cities" in Muzaffarabad with little sanitation or access to clean water.

Aid is being distributed in Muzaffarabad, and IR staff are trying to reach people in villages around the city

Neelum Valley

Between 90 and 100% of the houses in Neelum Valley have been destroyed. The road between Muzaffarabad and Kuttan is damaged in 15 places and officials say it take several months before it is opened to traffic.

Around 500 deaths have been reported in Neelum Valley and around 80 percent of the people there are homeless.

Barian and Chalayana, two villages in the Neelum Valley home to about 7,000 people, have been completely destroyed.

Bagh

The death toll in Bagh is estimated at 15,000 and 80 percent of the houses in the district have either been completely destroyed or are uninhabitable. Nearly 370,000 people are in need of aid in Bagh district.

IR staff are distributing aid in the city of Bagh, and towns and villages in the district.

Poonch

More than 270,000 people in the Poonch district have been affected by the earthquake. The town of Rawalakot is 60 percent destroyed, while Abbaspur is 80 percent destroyed.

IR has distributed aid in Rawalakot and villages in the Poonch district.

 

Friday 28 October
IR staff gave out 194 family tents in Muzaffarabad district and Neelum Valley. They also handed out 279 quilts, 108 blankets, 492 food packs and 111 plastic sheets.

In Dhirkot, IR aid workers distributed 200 tents, 358 quilts, 86 blankets, 173 water containers, 877 gift packs, 1,264 packets of milk, 994 bags of flour, 988 bottles of cooking oil and 992 food packs.

In Bagh, 294 tents were distributed to villagers.

In Rawalakot, 110 tents, 740 quilts, 368 kitchen sets, 480 food packs, 405 bags of flour, 110 plastic sheets and 190 blankets were distributed to survivors.

IR USA received a large donation of 20 containers of aid from the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. The shipment contains blankets, medical equipment and emergency kits and will be sent by sea to Pakistan.

The Sun newspaper has donated 85 Hungarian winterised army tents to IR. The aid consignment left UK on Thursday 27 October.

IR South Africa is sending a 40 foot container of warm clothing to Pakistan. Another two containers, one containing blankets, the other containing flour, are due to leave South Africa in early November.

Wednesday 26 October
In Rawalakot, IR staff distributed over 1,000 quilts, 200 blankets, 400 tents and 1,485 food packs to survivors in around 30 villages over three days. People also received 960 kitchen sets, 300 plastic sheets and cooking oil.

In Muzaffarabad, IR staff continue to distribute aid. Survivors received 1,917 quilts, nearly 2,000 blankets, 286 tents, 259 kitchen sets, food, plastic sheets, hygiene kits and other aid items.

In Bagh, 3,500 quilts, 2,000 blankets, 176 tents, 1,000 food packs, 2,000 bottles of cooking oil, 700 kg of pulses, 779 kitchen sets and 872 mats were distributed to survivors. IR aid workers also gave out water canisters, dates, flour and plastic sheets. The aid was distributed in around 100 villages in the Bagh district over three days.

Saturday 22 October
IR staff distributed 400 blankets and 200 cartons of milk in Muzaffarabad.

In Dhirkot, IR staff gave out 300 tents, 450 plastic sheets, 500 quilts and 319 blankets. Food packs and kitchens sets were also distributed.

In Bagh, IR workers gave out 274 quilts, 200 tents, 850 mattresses and 605 blankets. Jerrycans, milk and food was also handed out to survivors.

IR staff distributed 120 tents, 220 quilts, 63 plastic sheets, 195 kitchen sets, 200 food packs, oil, and 70 sacks of flour in 11 villages in Rawalakot.

International Health Partners UK have donated medicine and medical supplies worth £2 million to IR for the earthquake response.

Eight pallets of blankets are on their way to Pakistan, courtesy of British Airways.

Friday 21 October
IR aid workers distributed tents, food, blankets and jerrycans benefiting more than 5,000 people in 10 villages in the Bagh district.

In a separate distribution in Bagh, IR staff handed out 197 tents, 397 mattresses and 563 quilts, as well as food, jerrycans and warm clothes.

In the Dhirkot district, IR staff made two aid distributions of food, blankets, mattresses, kitchen sets and quilts. The first benefited nearly 4,000 people in 14 villages, the second benefited over 1,000 people in 7 villages.

In Neelum Valley, IR distributed 143 tents and 800 plastic sheets. The distribution took place in the villages of Chalayana and Baliahah.

IR staff distributed blankets, kitchen sets, mattresses and food packs in Rawalakot, benefiting around 1,400 people.

Wednesday 19 October
IR aid workers distributed blankets, quilts, food packs, and kitchen sets in 10 villages in the Bagh district, benefiting 4,500 people.

In five villages in the Dhirkot district, IR staff distributed blankets, food packs and kitchen sets. Around 1,900 people benefited from the aid distribution.

In Muzaffarabad, 350 food packets, 100 kitchen sets and 1,600 quilts were distributed to survivors.

In Rawlakot, 1,800 blankets, 150 kitchen sets, 100 mattresses and 200 food packs were distributed to survivors of the earthquake.

A planeload of aid which includes blankets, tents and wheelchairs from IR USA is due to arrive in Islamabad.

IR USA has put together a team of doctors and paramedics which will be flown to Pakistan by the World Health Organisation. The team is fully equipped with medical kits and instruments, and has experience handling survivors of the tsunami and hurricane Katrina.

The UK government is now funding Islamic Relief supply flights to the earthquake region.

Tuesday 18 October
IR aid workers distributed mattresses and food in Bagh, benefiting around 240 families.

In Muzaffarabad, IR distributed 1,000 tents and 2,000 plastic sheets, benefiting around 15,750 people. The tents and plastic sheets were donated by the UK government.

Also in Muzaffarabad, IR staff distributed over 100 mattresses and pillows donated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

IR USA is dispatching a paramedical team to treat the injured, and a team with water purification systems to the disaster area.

Sunday 16 October
IR distributed 700 tents Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad. Each tent can shelter a family of seven.

IR aid workers distributed mattresses donated by Concern to over 6,000 people in Rawalakot and Bagh.

Operational centres with warehouses have established in Bagh and Rawalakot.

A consignment of 1,000 tents and 2,000 plastic sheets was received from the UK government.

A shipment of 2,000 tonnes of aid which includes blankets, tents and first aid kits is being organised by IR's USA office.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) sent 6,300 blankets, 360 mattresses and 101 pillows to IR staff for distribution among survivors of the quake.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has agreed to provide medicines to IR aid workers in Pakistan.

Friday 14 October
Four trucks carrying aid donated by the UK government to IR arrived in Muzaffarabad. Plastic sheets were distributed to more than 5,000 survivors.

Six more trucks carrying aid funded by IR arrived in Muzaffarabad. More than 8,000 people received blankets, warm clothes, kitchen sets and food.

In Bagh, 500 blankets were distributed to survivors. The road from Bagh to Forward Kahuta has been opened and IR staff members have entered the town to rapidly assess the needs of survivors and are setting up an operation centre.

In Rawalakot, two truckloads of mattresses funded by CONCERN were distributed among survivors.

Thursday 13 October
IR is working closely with Save the Children, CONCERN, WHO and the Red Cross.

Islamic Relief staff are now focusing on villages outside the city Muzaffarabad that are yet to receive aid. Teams of aid workers from IR and other international aid agencies assessed the needs of people in three outlying villages.

The roads into Neelum Valley remain blocked. An army helicopter dropped aid packages containing food and other items in Neelum, but more is needed.

The UK government aid donation of 19,000 blankets has been received by IR staff in Pakistan and has been despatched to Bagh and Muzaffarabad.

The UK government has also donated 10,000 tarpaulins, 1,000 winter tents and 700 blankets to Islamic Relief for distribution to survivors.

The WHO has agreed to donate tents, medicines and warm clothing to IR.

Wednesday 12 October
IR is leading the humanitarian operation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Teams of aid workers from Save the Children and Concern are working with IR staff to bring relief goods into the area.

Save the Children and Concern donated baby blankets, quilts, plastic sheets and jerrycans to Islamic Relief staff who distributed them to 500 families in Muzaffarabad.

A consignment of aid to Kuttan by helicopter is being planned for 13 October. The aid will include food and medical supplies.

Drinking water, flour, rice, lentils, cooking oil, clothes, tents and blankets has been distributed in Muzaffarabad.

Tuesday 11 October
An aid flight funded by the UK government left for Pakistan with 800 winter tents for Oxfam and 19,000 blankets for Islamic Relief.

IR staff in Pakistan will distribute the blankets in areas affected by the disaster.

An aid flight from Amsterdam containing 30,000 pounds of medical relief funded by the aid agency Americares left for Pakistan. The medical aid will be received by IR staff in Pakistan and will be used to restock the Neelum Valley health centre.

 

Monday 10 October
Islamic Relief is leading teams of international aid workers into the affected area to assess the needs of survivors. Two teams of aid workers from several international humanitarian organisations have been sent to Rawalakot and another is now in Bagh. All three teams are headed by IR staff.

Tents

A planeload of aid from the UK government has been received by Islamic Relief staff in Pakistan and has already been distributed to survivors in Muzaffarabad. The shipment contained winter tents and blankets.

The UK government has provided Islamic Relief with a further 1,000 winter tents from its stockpile in Lahore. The tents will be distributed in Muzaffarabad on 11 October.

Food

In Muzaffarabad, 4,000 packs of food, each weighing 15 kg, are being distributed among survivors.

Locals in Islamabad donated 30 metric tonnes of rice. Two IR Pakistan lorries are in transit to distribute the rice in affected areas.

Orphans

Weeks after the disaster, there are still 58 out of the 182 IR supported orphans in the earthquake zone that are unaccounted for.

In Bagh, 2 orphans are missing, while in Muzaffarabad, there are 21 orphans that IR staff have not been able to contact.

Of the 118 orphans in the badly-hit region of eastern Manshera, 35 children are still unaccounted for.

Most of the orphans in the earthquake zone have lost their homes.

Fasting in the earthquake zone

In Kashmir, the festivity that usually accompanies Ramadhan is missing. For thousands of Muslims in the earthquake zone, all they will have to break the fast is a single date and a little water.

This is the only meal of the day.

Roads are still blocked and many areas remain inaccessible to the outside world – no one knows how people in the remote villages are surviving.

With their houses lying in ruins they sustain themselves on whatever little they have.

Yet, with all that they have lost, people continue to observe the fast. These are determined people, and Ramadhan has not lost its significance on them.

Rawalakot

The small city of Rawalakot was badly hit by the earthquake. Many of the buildings here collapsed, others are damaged and unsafe to use. IR aid workers are active in Rawalakot and the villages surrounding it, distributing aid to survivors.

In Rawalakot, I meet mother of six, Saira Khatum. She stands next to what looks like a huge pile of mud.

Then I am told that this was once her house. She begins pointing to where certain rooms once stood. The destruction is so complete that it doesn't look like a house ever stood here.

She now sleeps with her family in the open.

She said: "We sleep outside and it is a struggle – everyone has suffered in this area. It is very cold and it is going to get colder.

"With whatever little we have we faithfully keep our fasts."

And just behind her house is the home of Muhammed Kiyani, he and is family of six children also sleep out in the open.

He said: "Everybody is in this state. We need help to rebuild these houses. We have nothing left."

IR staff will be distributing tents and other aid to this village, and many others like it.

It seems that no matter where I travel in Pakistan-administered Kashmir there are signs of the terrible event that took place here on Saturday October 8th 2005.

But the spirit of Ramadhan has not deserted the people and they are determined to benefit as much as they can from the month of blessing.

Report by Jamsheed Din, Islamic Relief correspondent in Pakistan