In the aftermath of the earthquake in South
Asia, the ICRC has issued an emergency appeal for additional funding and
is concentrating its relief efforts on providing medical assistance, shelter,
food and water to those affected.
ICRC hospital in Muzaffarabad to
be expanded
The ICRC field hospital in Muzaffarabad has admitted 30 new patients over the last two days and it now houses 92 inpatients. Since its opening on 21 October, the facility has admitted 308 patients.
Although it has discharged 15 patients since yesterday, the occupancy rate is so close to the current maximum of 100 patients that it was decided today to expand the hospital by up to 50 additional beds as soon as possible. This will require extra medical staff.
Numbers of patients also increased at the basic health care unit of the German Red Cross as its existence became known locally. It treated 92 patients today. Over the past few days, an improvised camp has grown up around it as earthquake victims set up their tents in the area. They were among the patients lining up for treatment today.
In the mountain valleys, ICRC mobile medical teams (German, Japanese and Finnish Red Cross) have so far treated over 820 injured people.
Neelum valley
Construction of the Finnish Red Cross basic health care unit in Pattika has been slightly delayed by bad weather. Only two of the ICRC's current fleet of five helicopters were able to fly today. Weather permitting, the unit will open on Saturday.
ICRC teams flew in 720 tarpaulins and 1,800 blankets to assist 360 families in the village of Serian in Ghori valley on Tuesday. A German Red Cross doctor treated injured villagers on the spot and had another six evacuated by helicopter. More distributions are to follow in the coming days.
Another team reached the remote village of Buruha on Tuesday, situated at an altitude of close to 2,000m. It was the first external aid reaching them. Forty people were treated by the medical team on the spot.
Jhelum Valley
A joint ICRC/Pakistan Red Crescent team travelled to the village of Chakothi by helicopter today. They found massive destruction and scenes of desolation amongst survivors scared by yet another aftershock earlier in the morning.
The Pakistani army unit there reported that they had evacuated almost 800 of the injured by helicopter since the earthquake. Injured people continue to come from remoter villages and ICRC helicopters evacuated five today.
The Pakistan Red Crescent has now established a small team in the village and is assessing, together with ICRC, aid priorities for the coming days.
In Chakothi today, ICRC delegates helped 73 people re-establish contact with their relatives by satellite phone. Yesterday, 50 people in the village of Chinary were able to re-establish contact with their relatives inside Pakistan and in the Middle East, by using ICRC satellite phones
Special page on the ICRC website :
http://www.icrc.org/eng/south-asia-earthquake
For further information, please contact:
Islamabad / Pakistan
Leyla Berlemont
mobile +92 300 850 81 38
satellite phone: +88 216 89 80 41 45
e-mailattn: L. Berlemont
(ICRC Islamabad central tel. +92 51 282 47 80 or 282 47 52)
Languages: English/French/Arabic
Muzaffarabad / Pakistan-administered Kashmir
Raza Hamdani, satellite phone +92 300
850 56 93
Jean-François Berger, mobile phone + 41 79 358 32 15
or Helena Laatio (ICRC/Finnish Red Cross), satellite phone +88 2165 420
7201
New Delhi / India
Caspar Landolt
mobile +91 98 11 80 66 33
e-mail(ICRC New Delhi central tel. +91 11 24 35 23 38/97 or 24 35 43 94/95/96)
(ICRC New Delhi central tel. +91 11 24 35 23 38/97 or 24 35 43 94/95/96)
Languages: English/French/German/Portuguese
Geneva / Switzerland
Vincent Lusser
mobile +41 79 217 32 64
Languages: English/French/German
ICRC Geneva press secretariat
tel. +41 22 730 34 43
Please also check: http://www.icrc.org