More than 300 people are dead the day after an quake hit Afghanistan and shook surrounding countries.
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At least 17 people were killed and 200 others were injured when an natural disaster measuring 8.1 at Richter Scale hit Pakistan on Monday, local media and meteorological office said.
Asked whether immediate relief was reaching all affected areas, the NDMA chairman conceded that there might have been a few gaps in the response in Chitral, but said that a helicopter had been provided exclusively for sorties in the region.
More than 350 houses had been destroyed or damaged. ‘We are sitting in open area’.
As the dust from Monday’s quake begins to settle, the death toll has been rising and the wounded continue to arrive from remote areas of the north. The Pakistan army has played a significant role, leading the search and rescue mission.
“Obviously if a landslide comes into a village, it will take out buildings, but landslides can also take out roads and communications and power systems, so you lose the ability to access remote areas”, he said. “We can not permit proscribed organisations to spread venom under the guise of relief”, he said.
Tuesday, the Taliban told its fighters to help aid organizations distribute materials and expressed sympathy for the victims.
There had been a large influx of casualties to a hospital run by the French aid agency Première Urgence Internationale in Kunar, an eastern province that was badly hit.
The United States and Iran were among countries that offered to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which already depends heavily on foreign aid after decades of war that have wrecked its economy and infrastructure.
Addressing a press conference along with National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Major General Asghar Nawaz, he said under the package, Rs600,000 will be given to the family of each deceased and Rs100,000 to every injured.
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People in the Pakistani town of Chitral, one of the closest to the quake’s epicenter, say Thursday they are too poor to rebuild their homes and need government help.
