2nd report (11 Oct)

Emergency Relief program update, Kashmir 11 Oct

At least 33,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of others are homeless or severely injured, following the devastating earthquake which ripped through large areas of Northern Pakistan and India on 8 October 2005. SOS Children is accelerating up its emergency relief efforts for survivors in Jammu and Kashmir.

As a first response, SOS Children is transporting and distributing relief care packages as well as blankets and tents for more than 1,000 people in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which was close to the earthquake's epicentre and has been completely destroyed. Each "relief care package" contains rations of dry food, milk and water to serve one family for two days. These were packaged by students from Islamabad who immediately volunteered for the job, working through the night.

"Goods can now be directly transported as a road to the affected area has been opened. We are now able to step up our emergency relief efforts considerably," said Souriya Anwar, President of SOS Children's Villages in Pakistan. A team of 20 SOS Children employees is currently coordinating the relief efforts directly in Muzaffarabad.

SOS Children will also be sending a team and emergency supplies to Bagh, another town close to the earthquake's epicentre and which has so far not been reached by authorities. In addition, emergency shelter will be provided in Islamabad for approximately 100 unaccompanied children and women, and collection points for the distribution of clothing will be established.