UN: 10 000 more kids could die

2005-10-19 13:15

Islamabad - The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) warned on Wednesday that 10 000 more children could die from hunger, cold and disease in coming weeks because aid has still not reached parts of quake-hit Pakistan.

Unicef called for immediate steps to push through more supplies, saying children would be the first victims in a possible "second wave of deaths" as winter approaches.

Up to 120 000 children remain unreached in mountain areas devastated by the October 8 quake, "of whom the agency estimated some 10 000 could die of hunger, hypothermia and disease within the next few weeks", it said.

"The relief effort is becoming more complex with each passing day," said Unicef executive director Ann Veneman.

She said outbreaks of diarrhoea had already been reported in stricken areas and there was a "significant threat of disease".

Difficulty in reaching survivors

Pakistan says the quake killed at least 41 000 people and left 3.3 million homeless. Thousands of the dead were children, many of whom were crushed when their schools collapsed.

Unicef called for more helicopters to help reach survivors in isolated mountain areas, where access was difficult even before the quake which destroyed most roads and paths.

"There are still too few helicopters to reach more than 1 000 remote villages with life-saving supplies that children urgently need," Veneman said, adding the agency also lacked humanitarian partners to make deliveries.

"Given the intermittent shut-downs of the air corridor because of bad weather, the consequences for sick and injured children could be grave," she said.

'Toughest add mission'

The Unicef chief added that temperatures were dropping and roads to stricken areas have become clogged with mud and people fleeing the mountains with their injured.

Even if children receive the tents and blankets they desperately need, they remain seriously threatened by a lack of medical assistance, dehydration due to bad water, and malnutrition, Veneman said.

The World Food Programme said on Tuesday that half a million survivors of Pakistan's earthquake are in "desperate need" of shelter, blankets, medical care and food, and time is running out to save them.

James Morris, executive director of the UN agency, said reaching the isolated victims of the October 8 earthquake in the Himalayas was one of the toughest aid missions ever.

- AFP