Islamabad (AsiaNews) As times passes the urgency to help survivors from last Saturday's quake is getting greater. In addition to pressing needs such as food, medicines and warm clothes, fear is spreading that there may be outbreaks of infectious diseases as thousands of dead bodies lay unburied under collapsed buildings. Rescue workers are already treating cases of gangrene among survivors who stayed too long under the rubbles
The official death toll now stands at around 25,000. Authorities in Islamabad put the total number of the injured at 63,000. and according to UNICEF, some four million people might be homeless, 120,000 in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Pakistanis have reacted to the tragedy with great generosity. People of all faiths have been donating whatever they can: money but also tables and clothes, anything that might be useful.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday praised this spirit of co-operation. "I appreciate the courage, unity and support people have shown the victims of the disaster," he said.
In Islamabad many young Christians are working with the Edhi Foundation, an important Muslim charitable organisation, in bringing aid to the victims of a commercial building.
Mgr Joseph Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad and chairman of Caritas Pakistan, headed a meeting to coordinate aid provided by local Christian groups.
"Young people," he told AsiaNews, "want to be of service to the victims." Parishes and catholic organisations throughout the country, especially those in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, are already raising funds and collecting anything that might be useful.
"Caritas Pakistan, working with Catholic Relief Service (CRS), has already set up camps at Mansehra, 175 km north of Islamabad".
The longer the emergency, the greater are the chances that infectious diseases will break out. Water supply has broken down in many villages, forcing people to drink whatever they can find. Wounds in people trapped for long under the rubbles are developing into potentially lethal gangrenes if not treated in time.
Given the situation, the coming winter in the Himalayas could cause additional casualties. As of now, temperatures are expected to drop down to 6 Cº at night.
Jewish-American organisations like the American Jewish Congress-Council for World Jewry, the Joint Distribution Committee and the American Jewish World Service, are also raising funds to help Pakistan even though the predominantly-Muslim country does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
