Earthquake-displaced children in Pakistan have been suffering from various diseases such as pneumonia, coughs and fever, as they are without tents suitable for winter, reports the Pakistani daily The Nation.
During a visit to one of the tent villages spread throughout the country, the paper’s correspondent observed that the majority of children were suffering from diseases, spread mainly due to living in tents not suitable to protect them from the cold and dry weather.
The first heavy snowfalls in the last week of November marked the beginning of the winter period in the area affected by the October 8 earthquake in Pakistan. 73,338 people died as a result of the disaster and over 128,000 were injured.
“We have a big task ahead of us – to improve the adaptation of these tents to the winter,” said Federal Relief Commissioner Maj. Gen. Farouq Ahmad Khan on Sunday while briefing a 20-member delegation of the U.N. Foundation, headed by Ted Turner, founder of CNN and chairman of the foundation.
“The response of the international community towards the devastating earthquake is praiseworthy,” said Khan. However, Khan said the pledged aid of $6.2 billion should materialize as soon as possible.
In India, a stampede at a flood relief center on Sunday killed at least 42 people. The stampede occurred when people standing in a relief distribution line ran for shelter when it began raining.