balakot

Arriving by donkey, helicopter, or on the shoulders of desperate relatives, grievously injured villagers are still streaming into makeshift hospitals in northern Pakistan 16 days after the earthquake that destroyed their world. By mid-afternoon on Sunday 420 patients had passed through a well-equipped field hospital run by army medics from the United Arab Emirates.

Heavy rains receded on Monday in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, giving hope that efforts could resume to bring aid to the millions of homeless survivors of a monster earthquake that killed an estimated 54 000 people. Two strong aftershocks struck the region in the early morning, including one with a magnitude of 4,5, but there was no immediate report of damage.

Hundreds of thousands of quake survivors in the mountains of northeast Pakistan were on Monday desperately waiting for help after spending a second night in freezing temperatures, as the confirmed death toll rose to nearly 20 000. In many villages and towns hardest hit by Saturday’s quake, people dug through the night with their bare hands in an often futile attempt to reach friends and relatives trapped in the rubble.