Earthquake: Search for survivors calls off (Agencies) Updated: 2005-10-15 09:04 The United Nations launched an appeal Tuesday for some $272 million for quake
victims, but its chief humanitarian envoy Hansjoerg Strohmeyer said an
additional $40 million was needed.
So far, he said, pledges for just over $50 million have been received, with
$4.6 million turned into firm commitments or contributions.
The biggest donations to the U.N. appeal are $17 million from Britain, $10
million from Sweden and $8 million from Canada, he said.
US President Bush pledged up to $50 million, and the U.S. Agency for
International Development has already earmarked $10.8 million for the U.N.
appeal, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said. But the U.N. said this has
not been reported yet to its financial tracking service.
Many countries have made bilateral donations to Pakistan.
In Islamabad, police launched a criminal investigation into the collapse of a
10-story luxury residence that was the capital's only structure to fall in the
magnitude-7.6 quake, killing at least 40 residents.
"We will arrest all those who didn't perform their duty well," said the city
police chief, Sikandar Hayat. "They might be the builders, contractors or
supervisors."
Most of Pakistan's deaths were in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir,
where snow has started to fall in some areas. India has reported more than 1,350
deaths in the portion of Kashmir it controls.
Mohammed Hanif, a senior meteorologist in Islamabad, said rain was expected
in Kashmir and other parts of Pakistan over the next day.
"Rains with thunderstorms will definitely disrupt relief operations in
earthquake-hit areas," he said. Earlier this week, rains and hailstorms grounded
helicopters flying food and other supplies to devastated areas.
Many exhausted relief workers dealt with the added burden of fasting during
the daytime hours for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Water and electricity were restored to parts of Muzaffarabad, a Kashmiri city
of 600,000 in the heart of the quake zone. Authorities worked to bring power
back to outlying villages.
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