Red Cross makes €6m quake appeal

THE Red Cross appealed yesterday for $7.8 million (€6m) in emergency funds to help victims of an earthquake in south-west Pakistan, saying the priority is to provide shelter to the homeless as winter sets in.

The 6.4-magnitude quake hit a poverty-stricken region near the Afghan border before dawn on Wednesday, leaving thousands homeless. The official death toll is 215, but likely to rise to more than 300, said officials.

Relief workers were still discovering mountain villages wrecked by the quake that had yet to receive aid, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. In its statement yesterday, the Red Cross estimated about 20,000 to 30,000 people have been affected. The UN has put the figure at more than 100,000, half of them children.