In pictures: Earthquake Hits Pakistan-India Border
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Reuters - Sat Nov 26, 6:56 AM ET
An earthquake survivor cleans rubbles of his destroyed house in the devastated town of Balakot November 26, 2005. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan wintergrips the region. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday visited a remote valley laid waste by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic -
Reuters - Sat Nov 26, 6:58 AM ET
Earthquake survivors watch a U.S. military helicopter carrying humanitarian aid in the devastated town of Balakot November 26, 2005. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan wintergrips the region. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday visited a remote valley laid waste by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic -
Reuters - Sat Nov 26, 7:00 AM ET
An earthquake survivor cleans rubbles of his destroyed house in the devastated town of Balakot November 26, 2005. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan wintergrips the region. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday visited a remote valley laid waste by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic -
Reuters - Sat Nov 26, 7:01 AM ET
An earthquake survivor stands on top of a destroyed house in the devastated town of Balakot November 26, 2005. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan wintergrips the region. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday visited a remote valley laid waste by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic -
Reuters - Sat Nov 26, 7:05 AM ET
An earthquake survivor opens a shop in the rubbles in devastated town of Balakot November 26, 2005. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday promises of help for Pakistan's earthquake survivors must be kept, and quickly, or many people could freeze to death as a bitter Himalayan wintergrips the region. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, on Thursday visited a remote valley laid waste by the October 8 earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, most of them in the mountains of northern Pakistan. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 7:47 AM ET
Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, center, has lunch with Indian army officer at an army base in Tangdhar, 205 kilometers (128 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005. Kalam is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to visit areas affected by the Oct. 8 earthquake. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 8:54 AM ET
Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam addresses earthquake survivors at Tangdhar, 205 kilometers (128 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005. Kalam is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to visit areas affected by the Oct. 8 earthquake. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) -
AP - Sat Nov 26,11:17 AM ET
Hollywood actress and ambassador of U.N. refugee agency, Angelina Jolie, left, and actor Brad Pitt, right, are escorted by unidentified UNHCR officials towards a helicopter in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005after seeing the quake affected area. Jolie pleaded for swift aid to avoid a new disaster in Pakistan with the onset of the brutal Himalayan cold. (AP Photo/Roshan Mughal) -
Canadian Press - Sat Nov 26,12:12 PM ET
Hollywood Actress and Ambassador of U.N. refugee agency, Angelina Jolie, at a press conference regarding her visit to Pakistani earthquake areas, Nov. 25, 2005 in Islamabad. (AP/Anjum Naveed) -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 9:40 PM ET
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, right, holding the hand of an unidentified child, and actor Brad Pitt, rear, arrive at Tokyo's international airport at Narita, on Sunday November 27, 2005. The two arrrived for the Japan showing of their movie, Mr. and Mrts. Smith, scheduled for December 3. Before flying into Japan, Brad Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Angelina Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital that has been struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 9:45 PM ET
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, holding the hand of an unidentified child, arrives at Tokyo's international airport at Narita, on Sunday November 27, 2005. The actress, along with actor Brad Pitt, arrrived for the Japan showing of their movie, Mr. and Mrts. Smith, scheduled for December 3. Before flying into Japan, Brad Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Angelina Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital that has been struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 9:57 PM ET
Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, holding an unidentified child, waves upon his arrival at Tokyo's international airport at Narita on Sunday November 27, 2005. The actor, along with actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, arrived for the Japan showing of their new movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, scheduled for December 3. Before flying into Japan, Brad Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Angelina Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital has been struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency.(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
AP - Sat Nov 26, 9:58 PM ET
Hollywood actor Brad Pitt holds an unidentified child upon his arrival at Tokyo's international airport at Narita on Sunday November 27, 2005. The actor, along with actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, arrived for the Japan showing of their new movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, scheduled for December 3. Before flying into Japan, Brad Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Angelina Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital has been struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency.(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
AP - Sat Nov 26,10:08 PM ET
Actor Brad Pitt holds Angelina Jolie's daughter Zahara upon his arrival at Tokyo's international airport at Narita on Sunday Nov. 27, 2005. The actor, along with actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, arrived for the Japanese showing of their movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, scheduled for Dec. 3. Before flying into Japan, Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency.(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
AP - Sat Nov 26,10:18 PM ET
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, right, and actor Brad Pitt, rear, holding Jolie's adopted child, Zahara, arrive at Tokyo's international airport at Narita, on Sunday November 27, 2005. The actors arrrived for the Japan showing of their movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, scheduled for December 3. Before flying into Japan, Brad Pitt, visiting Pakistan with Angelina Jolie, donated 40 orthopaedic beds to an Islamabad hospital that has been struggling to cope with thousands of serious medical cases since the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake in northern Pakistan, according to the UN agency. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) -
Getting food to quake survivors
A full meal
Little Gulrukh looks happy. She knows her parents have been worried about the depleting larder.
But now the family can sit down to a meal of chapattis, lentils and maybe some rice pudding.
What she does not know is how her poor family - with its house destroyed in the South Asian earthquake - suddenly got so much food.
Text and photos: Aamer Ahmed Khan -
Multi-national effort
Gulrukh lives in the village of Kanur in the Neelum valley which was cut off for nearly a month after the quake.
The multi-national effort that finally got food to her started at 0730 at the Chaklala airbase near Rawalpindi.
The American vehicles there have started to look like Pakistani trucks that bring in rations from local markets. -
Race against time
Loading the Chinook helicopters is a messy business - a task entrusted to the Northern Light Infantry. This paramilitary outfit is part of the brigade that fought Indian troops in the Kargil conflict in Kashmir in 1999.
Now they racing against time to save the lives of those stuck in the remote Himalayan mountains.
On a typically busy day, these men will load over 120 tonnes of rations for repeated sorties by US and British Chinooks. -
'Sling operation'
Barely two weeks ago, the food situation in the Neelum valley was so desperate that the Royal Air Force tied up with the World Food Programme to start a six-day "sling operation".
The idea was to pump in 1,000 tonnes of dry rations into the valley.
The operation's success went a long way in averting what the UN had described as a possible "second wave" of deaths. -
Food supply chain
Unloading the choppers at any one of the 14 dumping sites set up by the army in Neelum Valley is quite a sight. Soldiers form a chain with sacks of flour flung from one person to the next.
The idea is to empty the chopper quickly so that it can carry out the maximum number of sorties. The soldiers usually hate this job and the officer in charge often has to act as the chief whip.
But sometimes, they find inspiration from unexpected quarters. -
Macho game
At the military base in the village of Dhanni, personnel from the Australian military hospital have turned the tedious task of unloading the supplies into a game. Men and women rush in whenever a Chinook lands and try to outdo each other in unloading the most. The competition is fierce. The Pakistani soldiers do not want to be left behind.
Sometimes, the chain gets broken as the more macho among them run the 100 metres from the chopper to the dumping site carrying 40kg at times. -
Distribution process
Meanwhile, people from the village that will get rations that day are summoned to the distribution point.
Men, women and children queue up - 10 at a time - all carrying little pieces of paper given to them by the committee set up in every village to streamline the distribution process.
Those who do not have able-bodied men in their family are given extra rations on the assumption that their 'carrier' will charge in kind. -
A month's ration
On this day it is Gulrukh's village's turn to receive food. Everyone is walking away with at least one month's rations.
Only two weeks ago, food was so scarce here that these people would have counted themselves lucky if they got two days ration at a time.
They are so relieved at the amount they are getting that even the three-hour trek back to the village - involving some very high slopes - seems bearable. -
Three-hour trek
The gruelling trek begins - made more difficult by the 30kg weight that everyone is carrying.
The journey involves many pit stops but the break is never longer that 10 minutes.
Everyone is in a hurry to get back home and to show their rations. -
Clearing roads
With their food problems sorted for a month, villagers can now start clearing the roads of quake debris.
The army is concentrating mostly on keeping the main road from the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, open.
Once the link roads open, local transport and private enterprise will take over.
In the meantime, Gulrukh can be sure of enjoying her simple meal of rice and lentils.