LONDON, 10 October 2005 — Governments and aid agencies around the globe deployed emergency rescue and medical teams, pledged money and sent aid and condolences to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan yesterday as the country’s President Musharraf appealed to the world for help.
The 7.6-magnitude quake on Saturday in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir killed around 30,000 people, mostly in Pakistan-controlled territory in the volatile region. India also reported several hundred deaths, and Afghanistan said one girl was killed.
Musharraf said Pakistan needed medicine, tents, cargo helicopters and financial assistance to help survivors, the news agency Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
“We do seek international assistance. We have enough manpower, but we need financial support,” Musharraf said.
Several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, announced yesterday they were sending emergency humanitarian aid to Pakistan and other countries affected by the devastating earthquake that struck South Asia. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered the “rapid” establishment of an airlift of doctors, medicines, tents, covers and food to Pakistan, the state news agency SPA said. Later yesterday, the Saudi monarch ordered a similar immediate airlift to India, SPA reported.
A spokesman at the Qatari Foreign Ministry said Doha has also decided to contribute with urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan, the official news agency QNA said. United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan ordered the immediate dispatch of humanitarian aid to quake-hit areas of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The Bahraini Cabinet “decided to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the afflicted countries to be delivered through the Bahraini Red Crescent Society,” the BNA news agency reported after the Cabinet’s weekly meeting.
The European Union yesterday committed $4.4 million in primary emergency relief.
“We have a duty to get help as quickly as possible to the people whose lives have been turned upside down,” EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said. “Europe’s solidarity with the countries and people who have been struck by this tragedy is concretely reflected in our prompt decision to release humanitarian funds.”
The United States and the governments of Japan, Thailand, Germany, Britain, the Czech Republic, and Australia yesterday pledged $2.46 million in aid. China has promised $6.2 million, according to Islamabad.
The US Embassy in Islamabad said it would provide $100,000 in emergency relief funds, and that the US military had offered to help.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pledged 100,000 pounds ($176,150) and said the government planned to send 60 medics, emergency workers and foreign office staff.
Many countries quickly assembled aid and readied it for transport to the mountainous region, where landslides are reported to be making access extremely difficult.
Some teams had already reached Pakistan yesterday, including the first contingent of a British emergency rescue team and a United Nations team of top disaster coordination officials who set up three emergency centers to coordinate relief efforts.
A Spanish group, United Firefighters without Frontiers, said its rescue team had already arrived in Islamabad with two large field hospitals and two tons of emergency equipment.
“We have sent 21 specialists in search, rescue and emergency medical attention of victims, as well as seven rescue dogs,” said Enrique Fernandez, director of operations.
A Chinese emergency response team of 50 arrived in Islamabad yesterday, also with search dogs, as well as communication equipment, blankets, medical and relief supplies, Pakistan said. A second Chinese planeload of relief goods was due today.
A Japanese disaster team of 50 was due in Islamabad late yesterday, and a medical team deployed by the Japanese Red Cross Society was expected early today.
Embassy Appeal
In Riyadh, the Pakistan Embassy has appealed to all Pakistani expats in the Kingdom to donate generously for the relief and rehabilitation of the earthquake victims in Pakistan. For further detail contact Mohmmad Raza Otho on 01-4823977 and 0500179740.
