Black Habits - Earthquake death toll could top 54,000

Officials from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir say the Oct. 8 earthquake's death toll will be "not less than 40,000" in that state alone, meaning that the disaster may have claimed more than 54,000 lives in all of Pakistan and India.

About 13,000 people died in other parts of Pakistan, with officials saying the toll could jump sharply as relief teams reach more remote villages. So far, 1,350 people have been reported dead in Indian-controlled parts of Kashmir. The grim numbers were released Sunday, as heavy rain and lightning storms continued to ground helicopters trying to bring aid to northern Pakistan, where almost 2 million people are homeless because of the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. Flooding on many roads also halted the delivery of aid by truck. The storms eased on Monday, allowing deliveries to resume. Survivors have hiked out from remote regions in search of aid, while soldiers, relief workers and volunteers continue to carry in supplies by foot. About 65,000 people were injured in the earthquake. Many have yet to be treated, and there have been reports of infection and gangrene setting in. One-fifth of ravaged villages still beyond reach Nine days after the quake, both Pakistani government officials and the U.S. State Department estimated Sunday that one in five villages in the stricken zone had yet to receive any help. A pilot for the U.S. military who had been flying over Kashmiri villages to try to assess the damage told Reuters news agency that many of them looked fine from above, but were actually only intact roofs lying on the ground. Many survivors say nothing remains of their homes. "The whole village is gone," said Rubina Mahmoud, whose village of Bandhi Thanoliya was wiped out by a landslide that killed 30 people. "Three members of our family are buried under the mud," Mahmoud told CBC News. "We'll never be able to rebuild," said Raveen Achtar. "There are big cracks in the ground. It will be difficult to go back to our land." 100,000 more tents needed, military says Through the region on Sunday, many homeless survivors searched desperately for blankets and battles broke out over tents amid temperatures that have dropped to 5 C in most places and below zero in higher altitudes. Relief agencies are also racing to set up shelter before winter sets in this month. Maj. Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan, the Pakistani relief commissioner, said 29,000 tents and 118,000 blankets had been distributed â€“ but estimated that 100,000 tents were needed. "There are bound to be casualties because of bad weather. How much? I don't know," he told a news conference. Huge quantities of relief supplies have arrived during the past week and aid workers said there was enough food for everyone â€“ but distribution was often chaotic. More than 200 military personnel in Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) left by plane for Pakistan on Sunday. The team expects to be fully operational within days.

Note: CBC News Last Updated Mon, 17 Oct 2005 19:37:33 EDT