AFP, CHITRAL, Pakistan: Rescuers said Thursday they believed they have reached most of those affected by the powerful earthquake that ripped across Pakistan this week, but thousands of desperate survivors now face a race to rebuild with winter fast approaching. Rugged terrain, severed communication lines and an unstable security situation have impeded relief efforts since Monday’s 7.5 magnitude quake killed more than 390 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan and levelled thousands of homes. But on Thursday Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said it believes it has reached “most of the affected area”.
A spokesman said helicopters are still searching for any survivors in the most remote, inaccessible areas of the mountainous region.
Pakistan’s confirmed death toll so far stands at 272, with more than 1,900 people injured and nearly 14,000 homes damaged, though the spokesman said the NDMA was still in the process of estimating a final toll. Desperate victims, meanwhile, appealed for aid, expressing fears for children in particular who were forced to sleep outside in sub-zero temperatures as winter sets in.
“After November 15 there will be three to four feet of snow here and we have nothing to protect us,” said Mir Wali, whose village Charun Ovir rests 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) up the mountainside in the northwestern district of Chitral.
Dust is still rising from the mountain after the earthquake caused cracks in it, leaving villagers fearing a landslide or collapse. “Whatever the government has to do, it should do before the snowfall,” he told AFP. “After that the roads will be blocked and we won’t be able to save our children.”
In Afghanistan, authorities have put the toll at 121 people with some 8,000 houses damaged—but there are fears the number of dead could still spike, with charities warning that the Taliban presence was hindering access to many of the affected areas.
UNAMA official Mark Bowden said it appeared NGOs had the capacity to help after the quake, but that access to the areas “varies from one (insurgent) commander after another”. Desperate survivors were left marooned on mountaintops in Badakhshan, the remote province where the epicentre of the earthquake was located and where much of the territory is controlled by the insurgents.
In Sawkay district in the badly-hit Afghan province of Kunar, residents said Wednesday that no officials had yet appeared.