At least 20,000 people are thought to have
been killed following a massive earthquake in Pakistan, with some reports
predicting the toll may double.
The earthquake, with a magnitude of
7.6, flattened entire villages, leaving vast numbers of people homeless.
Trocaire has allocated an initial €100,000 to Pakistan to help fund the emergency relief work in the aftermath of the devastation.
The epicentre of the quake was in west Muzaffarabad, and Trócaire's partners on the ground, CRS (Catholic Relief Services) and Caritas Pakistan, have set up base in Muzzaffarabad to effectively reach those in the worst affected areas.
Trocaire will consider allocating further funds once its partner agency in Pakistancarries out a detailed assessment of the situation this weekend. The agency will also decide whether to send personnel to the area in response.
"The immediate needs at this point are tents with reinforced plastic sheeting, medicines, especially bandages and orthopaedic equipment, blankets, jerricans for water and of course, food, water and sanitation," said Trocaire Emergency Programme Manager Mary Healy.
Trocaire has worked in Pakistan for almost 15 years and is in the process of opening an office there. "The villages worst affected were also badly affected with heavy snowfall and rain last winter. There are currently heavy rains and hailstorms and access is more difficult because of that. Landslides have also blocked access."
Caritas Internationalis, the international confederation of Catholic development agencies of which Trocaire is a member, has an emergency team from India in the affected areas of Jammu and Srinigaar and another assessment team will arrive later today, Sunday. The confederation already had a large amount of supplies in the area from its work in the tsunami-affected regions and expects to have those supplies in Pakistan very quickly.
Trocaire currently works mainly in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), Sindh and Baluchistan. The affected areas were mainly the north of NWFP, federal capital and Azad Kashmir. Enormous damage was also reported on the Indian side of the border in the Kashmir Valley.
"We will monitor the situation very closely as more news of the impact emerges and base our response on the needs of our partners," said Mary Healy.
You can donate to Trócaire's relief effort by telephone:
1850 408 408 (Republic Of Ireland)
0800 912 1200 (Northern Ireland)