Quake death toll now 73 000

2005-11-03 11:33

Islamabad - Pakistan's official earthquake death toll jumped by 16 000 to reach 73 000, and officials warned that it is likely to rise further as relief supplies fail to reach thousands of victims stranded in remote parts of the Himalayas.

The announcement on Wednesday brings the central government figures closer to the number reported by local officials, who say the October 8 quake killed at least 79 000 people in Pakistan.

"Just imagine how many villages and towns became a heap of rubble and how many people got buried," Major General Farooq Ahmed Khan told reporters.

Khan said 73 276 people have been confirmed dead in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, up from the previous official count of 57 597. In India's portion of Kashmir, an additional 1 350 people died.

Death toll could increase more

More than 69 000 people had severe injuries, with the total number of injured much higher, the general said.

Khan attributed the spike in deaths to bodies being recovered from the debris, and warned "there is likelihood of further increase" in the death toll. The government has been cautious about the official death count, while regional officials from Pakistani Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province issued their higher tolls more than a week ago.

Top UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland told PBS television that "there are many thousands, potentially tens of thousands, up there in the mountains that are wounded we haven't gotten to." He said a "second wave of death" could come from "people who could freeze to death, starve to death, or just be sick because of infected water."

UN officials say money for distribution of relief supplies was running dangerously low.

Egeland said foreign aid for the quake relief has so far been far less than what it was following last year's Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

The UN's World Food Programme has only enough money to rent a third of the helicopters it needs for a round-the-clock operation into the winter, said spokesperson Simon Pluess.

About 500 000 tents are needed to shelter the homeless.

- AP