Victims plead for help days after earthquake hit

Relief workers pouring in
Musharraf’s government, which usually bans foreigners from setting foot in Kashmir without permission, has greatly relaxed the rules to allow a flood of international relief workers into the area.

The military has been coordinating the relief effort, along with non-governmental organizations and the international community. The government has provided tents, blankets, food and medical supplies, most of which were airdropped by military helicopters.

Government and army units also have set up makeshift hospitals and shelters for the injured and homeless.

Several neighborhood groups in the town of Srinagar on the Indian side of the disputed territory collected money, warm clothes and blankets for the survivors and were receiving donations from residents.

‘I haven’t seen any help’
In Garhi Habibullah, Nawaz’s fingers blistered from the clawing at the earth that entombed his young niece. His pale yellow shalwar kameez, a traditional loose-fitting outfit, was stained with sweat.

“I don’t have any other clothes. Everything else was buried when my home collapsed. I haven’t seen any help,” Nawaz said, clinging to a small plastic bag of flour. “This is to feed a family of 12, my brother’s children, mine and my sister’s.”

On a rickety old wooden table more than a dozen tiny backpacks were stacked high. Tucked by its side was a small boy’s bag with the giant Nike symbol and emblazoned with the words “Just Do It” barely visible beneath the gray cement dust.

Creeping slowly, hesitantly toward the mound were two girls who appeared to be about 15 and 16 years old. Faisa and her sister Sadia Aurungzeb were at school when the earthquake hit and barely escaped.

Sadia wrapped her yellow and red shawl close around her shoulders. “It all happened so fast. We were waiting for the teacher,” Sadia said. “Suddenly everything started to shake. we all screamed and quickly we began to recite the Quran. I was so scared. I just kept repeating every prayer I could remember. I grabbed my friend’s hand and we ran out.”

Waiting for U.S. helicopters
The Pakistan military says it is still waiting for the helicopters from the United States to get to the quake zone.

“We were expecting the helicopters today. Maybe they will come tomorrow,” said Brig. Gen. Ashraf Tabbassam, at Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-held Kashmir.

“With a disaster of this magnitude it takes some times to reach out to people,” said Tabbassam. He said the military has conducted a staggering number of helicopter sorties trying to reach the hardest-hit regions that are tucked away in the Himalayan foothills and reachable only by air.

“We have never had to tackle anything of this size before. And the world has made a lot of promises.”

At the city limits of Muzaffarabad Monday, several families stood on the road that snaked down the mountain holding signs they had relatives write in English. One said simply in large blue letters: “HELP.” Another asked: “Who will help us?”

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