Peshawar, Pakistan - 12 Oct 2005 -
International Rescue Committee emergency teams are continuing to provide tents, blankets, food, water, medical care and counseling to earthquake victims in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. Saturday's devastating quake killed more than 40,000 people according to some counts. Millions more people have been injured or made homeless.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Aftershocks are still being felt every two to three hours, causing panic among quake survivors. Some survivors are refusing to leave the site of their collapsed homes where family members are still trapped. Many others have been sleeping in open fields because they are afraid to seek shelter in the houses that are still standing.
A team of IRC psychosocial counselors has been supporting these traumatized survivors. Several of the team members--who are among the few female aid workers in the region are also helping IRC medical staff assist injured women and children who told them they felt more comfortable being seen by a woman.
In addition to providing medical care in devastated urban centers, the IRC is dispatching mobile medical teams to remote locations. Doctors, paramedics and counselors dispatched to the Batagram district today treated 450 patients in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />village of Peshora and hamlets in the Kot Gala area.
Weather conditions are still hampering relief efforts in some areas. With the air getting colder each day, IRC staff members responding in Abbottabad and Manshera are helping survivors get ready for the rapidly-approaching winter. They are focusing on obtaining winterized tents, tarpaulins, lanterns, and gas stoves to distribute to homeless families.
In Shangla, at least 70% of the district's half-million residents have been made homeless. Lack of shelter, warm clothing and food is resulting in suffering for the survivors of the earthquake here, says Ismail Khan, who leads the IRC team working in the district. Shangla is one of the areas where there is less relief assistance as compared to the other disaster areas. Relief goods are taking more time to reach the area because it is so remote.
All of the IRC teams in the province are continuing to work closely with local officials and IRC staff in Peshawar to assess changing needs and quickly provide appropriate aid.
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