ABC News
Aid From 30 Nations Pours Into Pakistan
Relief Supplies From 30 Countries Pour Into Pakistan; 5-Year-Old Girl Pulled From Rubble
Food is distribute to women in the northern Pakistani town of Muzaffarabad, Wednesday Oct. 12, 2005 after last Saturday's earthquake. The Pakistani government's official death toll was about 23,000 people, but a senior army official involved in the rescue operations said that "according to our assessment, the death toll is between 35,000 to 40,000 people." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
By SADAQAT JAN Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan Oct 12, 2005  Helicopters flying in clear skies delivered aid to earthquake survivors Wednesday, a day after rain and hail grounded efforts. Relief supplies poured into Pakistan from about 30 countries, including from longtime archrival India.
Many bodies were still buried beneath leveled buildings, and the United Nations warned of the threat of measles, cholera and diarrhea outbreaks among the millions of survivors.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a regional tour, arrived in Islamabad and was expected to discuss quake relief with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Also Wednesday, rescuers pulled a dust-covered 5-year-old from the rubble, a shot of good news as hopes faded of finding other earthquake survivors. "I want to drink," the girl whispered.
Zarabe Shah's neighbors on Tuesday recovered the bodies of her father and two of her sisters. Her mother and another two sisters survived.
The 7.6-magnitude quake on Saturday demolished whole communities, mostly in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The U.N. estimated that some 4 million people have been affected, including 2 million who have lost their homes.
U.S., Pakistani, German and Afghan helicopters resumed aid flights suspended because of stormy weather. They brought food, medicines and other supplies to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir, and then ferried out the injured to hospitals. Some 50,000 Pakistani troops joined the relief effort.
Still, residents in Muzaffarabad were desperate, mobbing trucks with food and water and grabbing whatever they could. The weak were pushed aside.
Jan Vandemoortele, U.N. Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said key roads into the quake zone that were blocked earlier have been opened up. U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said that with the resumption of flights, helicopters had been able to unplug any backlog of aid.
About 30 countries including the United States, France, Japan, Jordan, China, Russia, Iran, and Syria have sent relief equipment, doctors, paramedics, tents, blankets, medicines, disaster relief teams. Many have also pledged financial assistance.
While Aid starts to pour in to the worst hit areas of South Asia Earthquake that has killed more than 30,000 people, bad weather is hampering the relief efforts with snow falling on the peaks of the earthquake-devastated areas of Pakistan.

The measure of human suffering can't just be measured in the death toll, which officially stands at 23,000, but also in the 4 million who have been made homeless, hungry, and cold with 1 million in acute need, facing certain death without outside assistance. In the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, authorities say at least 1,300 people are known to have died, but officials fear the number will rise.

ABC Australia reports of a man in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, who has been cut from aid, saying "I find that we are alone now. We have nothing. We are finished."

Choppers are the main lifeline of support; trucks are unable to deliver relief supplies due to looting and general mayhem on the ground. The more snow, the less able aid agencies are to make their way to those in the direst need.

Jan Vandemoortele, U.N. Resident Coordinator for Pakistan, said key roads into the quake zone have been reopened, as 30 countries including Australia, France, Japan, Jordan, China, Russia, Iran, Syria and the US provide assistance in the form of money, doctors, tents, blankets, and disaster relief teams.

United Nations officials are warning of a growing threat of measles, cholera, and diarrhea outbreaks among the millions of survivors.

There have been no reports of epidemic outbreaks so far, but the area's health infrastructure has completely collapsed, Vandemoortele said.