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Cold snap torments quake zone

Dozens of people suffering from hypothermia and respiratory illnesses were taken to hospitals yesterday as rain and snow lashed Pakistan's quake-stricken part of Kashmir, blocking roads and grounding helicopters used to ferry aid to remote areas.

Since the 7.6-magnitude quake struck Pakistan on Oct. 8, killing more than 87,000 people, aid agencies have been warning of another disaster among the 3.5 million people who lost their homes as the scenic Himalayan region's harsh winter settles in.

"There's a great risk to the people at high altitudes if they do not get shelters," said Captain Robert Firman, spokesman for the NATO relief team in Pakistan.

A 4.7 quake was felt in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta yesterday, but there was no word of damage or casualties, meteorologist Mohammed Jamil said.

He said the quake was centered about 300km northeast of Quetta, but gave no further details.

The season's first snow fell on mountains near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, and elsewhere late on Saturday, and downpours and snow falls continued Monday.

Hundreds of women, children and the elderly already were suffering from respiratory illnesses, diarrhea, scabies, tetanus and other ailments even before the first cold snap.

Mohammed Shoaib, a doctor at a field hospital, said yesterday that about 40 elderly and children suffering from hypothermia had been brought in there, and other facilities reported similar stories.

The situation may be worse in remote areas, where landslides triggered by the precipitation has blocked main roads.

Major Farooq Nasir, spokesman for the army, said troops halted traffic on the main Neelum Valley road "to avoid loss of life" after overnight rain and snow.

Engineers were working to clear the road, which links Muzaffarabad with scores of villages and towns and leads to the Line of Control, the heavily militarized frontier that divides Kashmir between South Asia's nuclear-rivals, Pakistan and India.

Nasir said no Pakistan army helicopters would fly in the quake zone yesterday because of clouds and rain.

Troops were using vehicles and even mules to ferry food and other supplies to the needy.

The heavy rains created a near-quagmire at the camp for a NATO engineering battalion in the town of Arje that is working to clear roads, repair damaged schools and hospitals, and get aid to quake survivors at high altitudes.

"It will slow us down, but we will not stop working," battalion spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Vallestin said as troops built a boardwalk over the deep mud surrounding his work tent.

"Just think, if you're working up there, what it's like with the mud and the landslides," Vallestin said, gesturing at the surrounding hills.
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