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Winter begins taking its toll as three die: UN

* Over 100 hospitalised as rain and snow lash Kashmir
* Relief helicopters resume flights

MUZAFFARABAD: The onset of winter claimed the lives of at least three earthquake survivors on Monday – the first confirmed victims of what officials fear will be a new disaster for the 3.5 million Pakistanis who lost their homes last month.

With heavy rain and snow lashing Azad Kashmir, more than 100 people were brought to hospitals with hypothermia and respiratory diseases. The bad weather also blocked roads and grounded helicopters as troops raced against the approaching Himalayan winter to ferry aid to remote areas devastated by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 87,000 people. The troops relied on vehicles where possible, and mules in other places.

A three-month-old boy and a young girl both died of pneumonia and a middle-aged man died of hypothermia, Andrew MacLeod, chief operations officer in the UN emergency response centre in Pakistan, said.

Three-month-old Waqar Mukhtar died of pneumonia hours after he was brought in from nearby Neelum Valley, said Abdul Hamid, a doctor at a hospital in Muzaffarabad.

In Bagh, a middle-aged man died a day after he was brought in with hypothermia, said Lt Col Johan De Graaf, senior medical officer at the NATO field hospital there. “If we don’t get people into shelters, they will die. It’s as simple as that,” said Air Commodore Andrew Walton, commander of the NATO disaster response team in Pakistan. “That’s the second disaster that’s waiting to happen if we in the international community don’t do something about it.”

Walton said it was critical to get more shelter materials and mobile medical teams quickly to high-altitude areas where the weather is worst. Mountaintops in the area have a fresh covering of snow.

Pakistan Army said as many as 14 battalions of military engineers were working with volunteers and aid workers in 10-man teams to build shelter homes of about 19 square metres, with priority given to families who have no male member in the home and are living above 1,500 metres. It said that 18,269 shelters had been completed, with another 4,750 under construction.

Hospitals throughout the quake zone each reported dozens of people, mostly children and the elderly, seeking treatment. The situation may be worse in remote areas, where landslides triggered by the precipitation have blocked main roads.

Parveen Ejaz, 26, stood in line outside the NATO hospital with her two sons and 2-year-old daughter, all suffering from coughs and colds that she blamed on the weather. “I’m really worried about the winter because I lost my house and we are living in tents,” she said as she held daughter Nayyab, her face flushed.

The season’s first snow fell on mountains near Muzaffarabad and elsewhere late on Saturday. Downpours and snowfalls continued on Monday. Hundreds, including women, children and the elderly, were already suffering from respiratory illnesses, diarrhea, scabies, tetanus and other ailments, even before the first cold snap.

Maj Farooq Nasir, spokesman for the army, said troops halted traffic on the main Neelum Valley road “to avoid loss of life” after overnight rain and snow. Engineers were working to clear the road, which links Muzaffarabad with scores of villages and towns and leads to the Line of Control. However, he said that relief helicopters were back in air on Monday after the first harsh winter weather grounded them on Sunday. “The weather is clear. Army and international agency helicopters have resumed their operations,” he said.

A magnitude 4.7 quake was felt on Monday in Quetta, but there was no word of damage or casualties, said meteorologist Mohammed Jamil. He said the quake was centred about 300 kilometres northeast of Quetta. agencies

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