Quake toll jumps to estimated 35,000 (AP) Updated: 2005-10-11 21:25
Two or three police looked on helplessly as more than 200 people raided a
stock of food arranged by relief workers at a soccer field near Muzaffarabad's
center — one of six designated aid distribution points. One man made off with a
big sack of sugar, another left on a motorized rickshaw with a big crate of
drinking water.
"Relief activity has started on a massive level," said deputy city
commissioner Masood-ur Rehman. He said two army brigades would start clearing
roads and debris in the city.
With winter just six weeks away, the United Nations said 2.5 million people
in the worst-hit areas near the mountainous Pakistan-India border need shelter.
The U.N. World Food Program began a major airlift of emergency supplies.
Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said a total of 30
helicopters, including eight U.S. military choppers diverted from the war in
Afghanistan, would be supplying food, water, medicine and other items to quake
victims. Two more German and four Afghan helicopters were sent, he said.
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