Rush to shelter quake victims before snow falls

FORECASTS of rain showers and light snow on earthquake-hit regions of northern Pakistan are threatening to compound the misery of hundreds of thousands of people living with little or no shelter.

Temperatures were expected to dip to about 7ºC in the shattered city of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and to -12ºC in the highest mountain villages, the Pakistan meteorological department reported. Snow was expected in villages at about 11,000 feet, it said.

Pakistan's top army spokesman claimed yesterday that a 26-year-old man has been pulled alive from the rubble of his home in northern Pakistan more than three weeks after South Asia's massive earthquake, but a doctor treating the man said he doubted the story could be possible.

Major General Shaukat Sultan said the man, Saeed-ur Rehman, was rescued by army troops yesterday - 23 days after the October 8 quake - from beneath his shattered home in North West Frontier Province.

Mr Rehman was brought to the Ayub Medical Complex Hospital in Abottabad, the main town in the region, suffering from severe dehydration and minor cuts and bruises, according to Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, deputy medical superintendent at the facility.

Dr Ahmed said the man's family members told him the same story about Mr Rehman's rescue by army troops, but he cast doubt on its accuracy as he said it is possible to live only 10 days without water.

With the brutal Himalayan winter just weeks away, the relief effort is rushing to deliver tents, food and medicine to victims before villages are cut off by snows and helicopter-grounding fog. The UN has warned that thousands more could die without adequate aid.

Pakistan's official death toll from the quake stands at 57,597, with 78,800 injured. However, central government figures have lagged behind those of local governments, who put the death toll at about 80,000.

Another 1,350 people died in Indian-held Kashmir. An estimated 800,000 people still lack any form of shelter.

Unicef said the dead included about 17,000 schoolchildren who had been attending classes when the quake hit. Pakistan's government says as many as 8,000 schools were destroyed.

Doctors working in remote villages say about 20% of patients show signs of the skin infestation scabies - possibly contracted from donated clothing.

Quake survivors said they were dubious about Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf's pledge to deliver half a million tents to quake survivors by the end of November.

Hafiz Ur-Rahman, 55, is living under a tarpaulin propped up by debris on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad with five family members.

"Everything that is being done on a large scale is being done by foreigners and non-governmental organisations. The government can help, but they're not doing so good," he said.

Pakistan's military was setting up relief camps and a field hospital for quake victims along its disputed Kashmiri border with India. That followed a weekend agreement with rival India to open their heavily guarded frontier to speed the relief effort.

Relief groups and quake survivors have praised Sunday's unprecedented border deal, which allows relief goods to be sent in either direction starting on Monday. Only Kashmiri civilians with families divided by the border will be allowed to cross on foot.

NATO medical and engineering teams are beginning to survey damage to roads. It has been ferrying aid to Pakistan since shortly after the October 8 quake.