ISLAMABAD, Dec 18, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Pakistan's Federal Relief Commissioner Maj General Farooq Ahmad said on Sunday that the earthquake survivors need 2 million more blankets to cope with harsh winter.
In a meeting with a 20-member delegation of the United Nations Foundation headed by Ted Turner, founder and chairman of the UN Foundation, Farooq said that efforts were underway for winterized tents to survivors and arrangement of housing for the people living at mountains below 5000-feet altitude before harsh weather conditions worsen.
He lauded world relief efforts for the quake victims, stressing the need of early fulfillment of the 6.2-billion-dollar world aid pledges for quake-hit areas.
On their first day in Pakistan, Turner and his delegation visited some earthquake-affected areas, including spending some time at the UN-run Thori Park camp and the Civil Military Hospital in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
At a press conference after the tour of the affected areas, Turner called for an unceasing international relief effort for earthquake survivors.
According to official figures, the devastating earthquake on Oct. 8 has taken 73,338 people of their lives and injured 128,309 others, out of which 69,412 are seriously injured.
Turner, also the founder of the CNN, is on a three-day visit to Pakistan. Other members of the delegation include former prime minister of Norway and former head of the World Health Organization Dr Gro Harlem, special advisor to the UN secretary- general Dr Nafis Sadik and president of the UN Foundation Timothy Wirth.