PAKISTAN: The UN almost doubled its emergency appeal for earthquake-struck Pakistan to $550 million yesterday as aid workers warned of a second catastrophe from the approaching Himalayan winter.
"The scale of this tragedy almost defies our darkest imagination," the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, declared.
"We meet today to prevent a second shockwave of deaths and suffering," he told representatives from 65 developed countries at a donor conference in Geneva, after observing a minute's silence for the estimated 79,000 victims of the October 8th disaster.
"We do have the power to stop the next wave - the deaths and despair caused by freezing temperatures and disease, by lack of shelter, food and water."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies earlier doubled its appeal to $117 million. By last night just 12 per cent of the UN appeal had been met, although fresh pledges were expected.
Oxfam accused wealthy countries of not giving their fair share, and said that seven - Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - had given nothing. "The logistical nightmare is bad enough without having to worry about funding shortfalls as well," said Jo Leadbeater of Oxfam. Britain's official contribution of $17 million - part of a larger $59 million relief package - is just below its "fair share", Oxfam said. The British public has given £25 million.
Yesterday, poor visibility grounded three RAF Chinook helicopters which had been due to start airlifting supplies from an airbase in Rawalpindi. On the ground in northern Pakistan, aid workers warned that the death toll could rise sharply as sub-zero temperatures and snow blanket isolated valleys where some 800,000 people are without shelter. Helicopters, tents and medical treatment are in chronically short supply.
"Catastrophe looms large," said Rashid Khalikov, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in the destroyed city of Muzaffarabad.
In Bagh, south of the earthquake epicentre, Médecins Sans Frontières said survivors could perish from hypothermia and pneumonia if enough tents were not found. Doctors are also worried about infectious diseases. MSF has set up an isolation ward in Bagh for a man suspected of having the deadly haemorrhagic fever. Local authorities have started to kill dogs to prevent the spread of other diseases, such as kala-azar, which attacks the liver.
In the neighbouring North-West Frontier province, Caroline Broudic of Action Against Hunger had just returned from a three-day trek through the earthquake-ravaged Alai valley. After crossing an unstable landslide, her team reached Gangwal, 1,940 metres (6,400ft) up the mountain, where survivors were cowering under makeshift shelters made out of mud and plastic sheeting.
The aid workers heard reports that in another village further up the mountain snow had started to fall and up to 1,000 people were homeless. "There was a feeling of panic. People said, 'We need help from the government now, otherwise we will all die,' " she said.
Pakistan's prime minister Shaukat Aziz appealed to mountain-dwellers to descend to the valleys, where the army is setting up giant tented camps, for the duration of the winter. But survivors are reluctant to leave the rubble of their houses without first removing valuables, food and the bodies of dead relatives. - (Guardian service)