Quake toll rises to 54 000

2005-10-26 08:51

A Pakistani woman pauses in Rar Ben, in Pakistani Kashmir. Rar Ban was once a bustling mountain town of 12 000 with a mosque, a high school and a girls' primary school. Today those buildings are gone, as are most of the people. (Lefteris Pitarakis

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Islamabad - The death toll from Pakistan's massive quake is now 54 000, interior minister Aftab Sherpao said on Wednesday, raising the total by more than 800.

Sherpao warned that the figure was likely to climb further, firstly because more buildings razed by the October 8 quake were being cleared and secondly because of cold weather in the disaster zone.

"With the severe winter approaching in a few weeks, we are racing against time to save people and have asked them to come down from the highlands," Sherpao said.

Around 36 000 of the dead were in Pakistani Kashmir and some 18 000 were in North West Frontier Province, he added.

Sherpao added that the number of injured had also increased to 77 000.

On Saturday, Pakistan's disaster relief chief Major General Farooq Ahmad Khan said 53 182 people had died and 75 146 were injured.

- SAPA