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3 children hurt in tent village fire

* 17 tents burned in three separate fires
* NRC says it has reached 30,000 quake-affected people

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Three children were injured and eight tents were destroyed when a tent village caught fire in Balakot district in NWFP on Tuesday.

Aid workers said that the three children suffered minor injuries when flames engulfed a the camp in Besian village. The fire was caused by a burning stove inside a tent, they said.

Eight tents were destroyed in another fire on Tuesday evening, while another was burned in a separate incident on Wednesday morning, the aid workers said.

Meanwhile, sources said that nearly Rs 2.8 billion have been distributed among the quake-affected people in NWFP. Authorities confirmed the distribution of compensation cheques among the quake-affected people in Mansehra, Battagram, Abbottabad, Kohistan and Shangla districts. A Pakistan Army statement said on Wednesday that around Rs 1.71 billion had been paid to the families of the earthquake victims and Rs 1.1 billion to people whose houses had been damaged or destroyed in the quake. It said that Rs 1.2 billion was paid to the relatives of the dead and wounded in Mansehra, Rs 284.05 million in Battagram, Rs 60.56 million in Shangla, Rs 59.56 million in Abbottabad and Rs 53.92 million in Kohistan.

The affected are being compensated according to estimates by damage-assessment teams consisting of representatives from the army, Provincial Revenue Department and district councillors. Relief and rehabilitation activities by the army continued in the affected areas of NWFP. “Army engineers removed 109 trucks of rubble from various buildings in Balakot city and demolished more than 50 damaged houses,” the statement read. Army Aviation helicopters flew 52 sorties from their Mansehra operational base to the affected areas, airlifting 40 tonnes of relief goods including tents, blankets, quilts, ration and medicines. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) claimed that it had reached 30,000 earthquake victims since October 8, a statement by the organisation said on Wednesday. The NRC distributed winterised tents along with stoves to the quake-affected in remote areas, it added. “We are planning to reach more quake-affected people,” it said. “We are also planning to lend our support to the government in camp management in Mansehra.”

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