23,000 confirmed dead, says Premier
51,000 injured, 2.5 million become homeless - 2 Army divisions deployed
By Our Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Tuesday announced deployment of two army Divisions and additional brigades in the quake affected areas as the official death toll rose to 23,000 with 51,000 injured and another 2.5 million homeless, in country’s worst ever natural calamity.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told newsmen that the government had mobilised all resources to meet the major catastrophe and given Rs 500 million each to AJK and NWFP governments to cope with the tragedy.
“We are going through a challenging time, but it is encouraging that our people are facing it with courage and determination,” he said.
Prime Minister said the number of dead was expected to rise from the approximate figure of 23,000.
He said the initial response to the calamity was influenced with the collapse of the entire communication network. The roads were cut off and there was no way to reach the inaccessible places.
The Prime Minister said all the major road arteries to the affected areas have now been opened while the smaller roads were being cleared of the landslides.
“Truck loads full of relief goods, medicines, food and shelter are heading towards the affected areas in AJK and NWFP,” he added.
He said six field hospitals were operational in AJK and NWFP in addition to other hospitals.
He said foreign teams were setting up eight more such centres to provide immediate treatment and were equipped to undertake surgery and only the most serious cases would be referred to Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
He said 15 specialised international rescue teams and 11 foreign medical teams were operating in different affected areas.
Aziz said Muzaffarabad and Balakot were the worst hit major cities, while hundreds of villages were destroyed.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said around 432 army personnel lost lives while 709 were injured in the 7.6 Richter scale earthquake on Saturday.
He said the Pakistan Army had recovered 40 children from the collapsed school building in Balakot who have been shifted to the field hospital.
The Prime Minister said a Brigade Headquarters was set up in Balakot and the army personnel were engaged in rescue and relief operations.
He said troops would be deployed every 10 km in the affected area, from where they would fan out to reach the inaccessible places. However, he pointed that it would take time to reach everybody.
To a question he said there was no need for re-deployement of troops from their positions along the Pak-Afghan border, as there were plenty of army personnel in the affected areas.
The Prime Minister said around 40 helicopters were undertaking hundreds of sorties to ferry injured to the medical centres and to carry relief goods to the worst hit areas.
He said satellite phone communication systems were being installed in all the affected areas to enable the people to call their relatives and friends in other parts of the country.
He said there was close coordination between the army and the civilian authorities and said the Federal Relief Centre headed by Major General Farooq was specifically set up to ensure that all agencies work in a coordinated manner.
The Prime Minister however noted what he termed was the “remarkable sense of sharing and feeling the pain” of the people who responded in an overwhelming manner.
“The nation has gelled together in an unparalleled manner,” he said.
He was appreciative of all those civilians, government agencies and the armed forces who were working together selflessly to provide relief to the millions who were now homeless.
He said the major damage occurred in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot in the AJK and in Balakot, Mansehra, Batgram and Abbotabad in the NWFP.
“Devastation is at its extreme in Balakot, large parts of Muzaffarabad have been severely damaged while settlements and villages around these towns have also been severely hit”.
He said relief and later the reconstruction and rehabilitation works are “mammoth challenges” facing the government.
“But we are determined and moving ahead with full vigour and the entire government machinery is working round the clock to help the people,” he added.
He said the priorities were recovery of the dead bodies and their burial. The health authorities have been mobilised for the disinfection of the affected localities.
Prime Minister Aziz said the rehabilitation of the children who lost their parents was a major task ahead and measures were being taken in this regard.
“The trauma aspect of the affected people is very serious for those who lost their loved ones and their whole life’s earnings, but we will share their pain and sorrow,” Aziz added.
The Prime Minister was also appreciative of the “sense of voluntarism” of the people and said Rs 600 million were collected in 48 hours of the disaster.
However he said it was difficult to calculate the overwhelming response of the people that was made in the form of relief goods, food and medicines that have been donated by the people.
He said the foreign donations amount to US 300 million dollars and more was in the pipeline.
He said separate teams are doing the damage assessment and looking into the reconstruction of government buildings, infrastructure, water and sanitation systems, power and communication networks in the devastated areas.
To a question the prime minister appreciated the gesture of Qazi Hussain Ahmed of Jamat Islami for extending cooperation of his party to the government.
The Prime Minsiter to a question said there were only a few isolated incidents of looting and said the situation was under control.
About assistance from India, he said, there was no problem in accepting any aid and said Pakistan’s requirements were already known. He said Pakistan too had assisted India when Ahmedabad was hit by a earthquake.