Donors Estimate Pakistan Quake Death Toll At 86,000

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

A Pakistani man looks for family members in photographs of injured earthquake victims displayed in a relief camp in Muzaffarabad, 08 November 2005. The 08 October earthquake has killed more than 73,000 people, injured 69,260 and left 3.3 million people homeless in the mountains of northern Pakistan and Kashmir. The United Nations announced 07 November that it needed at least 42.4 million dollars immediately to continue its humanitarian aid operations in the region through the month of November. AFP photo by Banaras Khan.

Islamabad (AFP) Nov 08, 2005
International donors estimate that last month's devastating earthquake in Pakistan killed about 86,000 people, a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday.

"The assessment teams of international donors that went into earthquake-hit areas for the needs assessment have estimated the death toll around 86,000," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's adviser on finance, Salman Shah, told AFP.

"But this is not a confirmed death toll, it is based just on their assessments," Shah said.

"Let's not confirm these figures," he said adding that the confirmed death toll would be announced by the country's Federal Relief Commissioner.

Pakistan on November 2 raised its death toll from the October 8 catastrophe to 73,276. Another 1,300 are estimated to have died in Indian Kashmir, making it one of the deadliest tremors in recent history.

The Pakistani government last week also said 69,260 were severely injured by the 7.6-magnitude quake in North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and its zone of Kashmir.

It expressed fears the toll would rise as some remote mountain areas remained inaccessible.

The damage assessment report prepared by teams from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other donor agencies said the quake devastated a total of 7,197 educational institutions in NWFP and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, an official at one of the agencies told AFP.

The earthquake also destroyed 3,837 kilometers (2,398 miles) of roads, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The reconstruction cost estimated by the teams ranged between three and four billion dollars while Pakistan estimates 10-12 billion dollars, he said.

Officials said 3.5 million people have been hit by the calamity.

Sources said Prime Minister Aziz has convened a meeting of senior government officials on Wednesday to compile data on damage to houses and the cost of reconstruction.

This final report will be presented at an international donors' conference in Islamabad on November 19.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT

India And Pakistan Open Kashmir Border For Quake Aid

Kashmir, Line Of Control (AFP) Nov 07, 2005
Pakistan and India Monday opened their frontier in Kashmir for earthquake relief, but police had to fire tear gas to disperse protesters who were banned from taking part in the symbolic crossing.

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