Earthquake in Pakistan - The situation
October 2005
The situation
There is debris everywhere, entire cities - such as Balakot - have crumbled, and it is not hard to find people digging or others building their own future home. The aid in arrival is to be transported from the airport to the various cities, and helicopters and trucks are needed. Once in Islamabad, international organisations wait for vehicles to transport medicines and foodstuffs, which risk being mislaid along the way. The roads are impassable. In addition to the usual traffic, made up of little coloured vans that tear along dirt tracks, the roads have been blocked by the authorities due to falling debris.
From on-site surveys and relief operations, it has immediately become clear that the proportions of the disaster are much greater than that initially presumed. Three quarters of the hospitals and health facilities have been destroyed or seriously damaged; over 10,000 school buildings destroyed and more than 17,000 students are feared dead beneath collapsed schools.
According to the official death toll, there are over 73,000 victims in Pakistan and 1,300 in India. Most of the victims are feared to be children and teenagers.
The mission of countries that have arrived in Kashmir is to provide shelter, food and medical care to the over 3 million quake survivors.
Many people have suffered fractures that risk degenerating into serious infections and have developed pneumonia due to the severe weather and lack of shelter.