MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan – Four days after Zarabe Shah’s home crumbled on her, rescuers pulled the dust-covered 5-year-old out of the rubble Wednesday, a shot of good news as hopes faded of finding other earthquake survivors. “I want to drink,” the girl whispered.
The day before, Zarabe’s neighbors recovered the bodies of her father and two sisters. Her mother and another two sisters survived Saturday’s quake.
Helicopters flying in clear skies delivered aid to victims Wednesday, a day after rain and hail grounded efforts. Relief supplies poured into Pakistan from about 30 countries, including longtime rival India.
However, the Indian effort was not without a glitch, as a plane from New Delhi was forced to turn around within 10 minutes of takeoff because Pakistan said there was no room to land at the airport near Islamabad. The plane later landed with 25 tons of supplies.
Many bodies were still buried beneath leveled buildings, and the United Nations warned of the threat of measles, cholera and diarrhea outbreaks among the millions of survivors.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a regional tour, arrived in Islamabad and promised long-term U.S. help for Pakistan. She also predicted more American aid beyond the $50 million already committed.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said 25-30 U.S. military helicopters would be in the region in the next few days.
The 7.6-magnitude earthquake demolished whole communities, mostly in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The U.N. estimated that 2 million people have been left homeless.
U.S., Pakistani, German and Afghan helicopters resumed aid flights suspended because of stormy weather. They brought food, medicines and other supplies to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan’s portion of divided Kashmir, and then ferried out the injured to hospitals. Some 50,000 Pakistani troops joined the relief effort.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said small aircraft were able to land at the airport in Muzaffarabad, but C-130 transport planes were only able to airdrop equipment and supplies.
Still, residents in Muzaffarabad were desperate, mobbing trucks with food and water and grabbing whatever they could. The weak were pushed aside.
Jan Vandemoortele, U.N. resident coordinator for Pakistan, said key roads into the quake zone that were blocked earlier have been opened up. U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said that with the resumption of flights, helicopters were able to unplug any backlog of aid.
About 30 countries_ including the United States, France, Japan, Jordan, China, Russia, Iran, Syria and the United Nations have sent relief equipment, doctors, paramedics, tents, blankets, medicines and disaster relief teams. Many also have pledged financial assistance, and Japan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it would send about 290 troops and three helicopters to help transport aid.
“Relief material is moving in,” Vandemoortele said in Islamabad. “It is getting there. Roads are open now. We have several trucks that are all loaded and on the road now.”
The transport plane from India brought tents, medicine and other goods, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
More than 1,400 people have died in India’s part of Kashmir, and the offer and receipt of the aid by Pakistan reflects warming relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, which embarked on a peace process last year.
The Pakistani government’s official death toll was about 23,000 people and 47,000 injured, but a senior army official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the figure publicly said an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 people had died.
Rescue workers fanned out of Muzaffarabad by helicopter to remote regions of Kashmir. Among them were eight teams from the British International Rescue Corps, which has found 16 survivors since arriving in the quake zone nearly three days ago.
“As time goes on, hope will get less and less. But you always do get miracles,” said Ray Gray, a stocky man in a blue uniform and helmet, as he prepared to board a chopper. “Even if we just find one person, the whole effort is worth it.”
Vandemoortele said there have been no reports of epidemic outbreaks so far but the area’s health infrastructure has completely collapsed.
In one field clinic alone, 2,000 patients had been treated, most of them for broken arms or legs. It’s too early for onset of disease, but officials are fully aware of the potential threat, he said.
The quake damaged sanitation systems, destroyed hospitals and left many victims with no access to clean drinking water, making them more vulnerable to disease.
“Measles could potentially become a serious problem,” said Fadela Chaib, a WHO spokeswoman in Geneva. “We fear that if people huddle closely together in temporary shelters and crowded conditions, more measles cases could occur.”
Measles