Fuente: © World Bank
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Donors estimate Pakistan quake death toll at 86,000

/noticias.info/ International donors estimate that last month's devastating earthquake in Pakistan killed about 86,000 people, Agence France Presse reports a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday.

The damage assessment report prepared by teams from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other donor agencies said the quake devastated a total of 7,197 educational institutions in NWFP and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, an official at one of the agencies told AFP. The earthquake also destroyed 3,837 kilometers of roads, the official said on condition of anonymity. Officials said 3.5 million people have been hit by the calamity. Sources said Prime Minister Aziz has convened a meeting of senior government officials on Wednesday to compile data on damage to houses and the cost of reconstruction. This final report will be presented at an international donors' conference in Islamabad on November 19.

Xinhua (China) adds the joint assessment teams also estimated that devastation in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir was much more than the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). A total of 7,197 educational institutions were destroyed, including primary, middle and high schools. The meeting decided that damages to universities and colleges in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and NWFP, which are not part of this draft report, should also be included in the final report. The report will cover infrastructure, housing, transport, health and education.

The meeting, however, could not finalize estimates about the reconstruction cost owing to a wide difference among the local and foreign agencies about the per square foot reconstruction cost. The total reconstruction cost estimated by the Pakistani planning commission stood at around $10 billion-$12 billion while the World Bank and the ADB estimates ranged between $3 billion to $4 billion . Similarly, reconstruction cost estimated by the World Bank and the ADB ranged between 600-1,200 rupees (one dollar is about 60 rupees) per square foot compared to much higher estimates of the planning commission.

BBC News Online meanwhile reports that the Pakistani government says it cannot confirm reports that the death toll from the South Asian earthquake has jumped from more than 74,000 to 87,000. "We don't agree with that," a spokesman for the government's relief commission told the BBC. The federal government's figures have been consistently lower than those of other bodies.

The Associated Press further notes the UN notched up appeals for more money to help victims of the devastating Oct. 8 quake centered in divided Kashmir, urging donors to be as generous as with other recent disasters. The UN said it urgently needs $42.4 million to keep bringing help through November. People in Kashmir will "freeze to death if they don't get assistance in weeks," UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said in New York. He notes that the UN has launched "Operation Winter Race" to bring shelter to about 200,000 people living at high altitudes above the snow line in the rugged Himalayas and about 150,000 expected to come down to tent camps at lower elevations. "The concept is one warm room per family before it becomes too cold," he said. The Associated Press adds the United Nations said Monday it has received just $83.9 million of the $550 million it has asked for, with about $48.7 million more pledged.

Reuters further writes that throughout the disaster zone disease is on the increase. The Health Ministry says there have been nearly 9,000 cases of acute respiratory infections, including pneumonia, more than 6,000 cases of diarrhea, 1,130 cases of dysentery and 139 cases of tetanus, of whom 41 have died. UNICEF says there have also been several deaths from measles and they are vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children to stop its spread in tent communities. notas_de_prensa_archivo