US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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This will be of immense help by adding to the airlift capacity. Thank you USA.

US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-10-2005_pg7_37
ISLAMABAD: US President George W Bush telephoned President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday and assured all out support in the relief, rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of the earthquake that devastated Pakistan on Saturday.

The US president expressed the condolences of his government and people’s to Musharraf and the people of Pakistan. “We are ready to provide whatever assistance Pakistan needs in this hour of trial,” the US president told Musharraf.

Bush has directed the US ambassador in Pakistan to coordinate with the Pakistani authorities to asses the damage and the assistance required. Musharraf thanked the US president for his generous offer.

The US president also met with the Pakistan Embassy’s chief of mission and charge d’affaires, Mohammad Sadiq on Sunday. “I was just told that this is going to be the worst natural disaster in the nation’s history,” said Bush. “Thousands of people have died, thousands are wounded and the United States of America wants to help. We’ve already started to send money and other equipment and goods needed to help the Pakistani people.”

“The charge told me that one of the biggest concerns for the government of Pakistan is not enough airlift capacity to get to some of these rural areas where people are suffering. So we’re moving choppers,” Bush said. “(Defence) Secretary Rumsfeld is surveying the assets that he may be able to move in the area. We’re working with Pakistan at all levels of government. Pakistan is a friend of the United States government and the people of the United States will help as much as we possibly can.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai also talked to President Musharraf on the telephone, and said that the prayers of the Afghan people were with their Pakistani brethren in their hour of need.

Karzai said that his government was sending four MI-17 helicopters to carry out relief and rescue work, besides a huge consignment of dry fruits.

President Pervez Musharraf expressed gratitude for the sentiments expressed by the Afghan President, and recalled the centuries-old relations between people of the two countries.

Saudi business tycoon Prince Walid bin Talal also offered assistance to Pakistan. “I am ready to provide whatever assistance Pakistan needs,” Talal told Musharraf on telephone. app

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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

The United States has now allocated a quite hefty $50 million to the Pakistan Earthquake Relief effort - that is not just the single largest donation by any country so far, but it also an initial allocation i.e. more money will follow later.

In response to the request of President Musharraf and the Government of Pakistan, the United States is providing an initial contribution of up to $50 million for relief and reconstruction following the earthquake that struck on October 8.](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051009-1.html)

Thank you America - God bless you. :k:

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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

haha...ok ok....i wonder if phathans see their helicopters,they will shoot them with their rockets....
this is all trick game...american knows tht 90% pakis hate them to the level of extremism..so they will provide 1 or 2 helicopters..
abt the money offered...every1 is here...and we will see how much america will provide

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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Thanks to US and Afghanistan, for providing much needed logistcs :flower1:

Mods/Admin : Don’t you people think that Mr. Guy1 needs time out ? A visit to Merryland maybe :slight_smile:

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Much appreciated effort.

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good show, very generous of the amreekis. I take back all the bad stuff i said about em. :k:

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Finally the aid is reaching the big city. I hope that surrounding villages will get some attention now. Oh God! there is so much death and destruction.

Aid begins arriving in quake zone
Rescuers are struggling to reach the injured in time

Trucks carrying food and medical supplies have begun arriving in the city worst affected by the earthquake that hit northern Pakistan and India.

Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, bore the brunt of Saturday’s quake which killed at least 20,000 people.

Pakistani officials admit they were initially overwhelmed, but say the relief effort is gathering momentum.

Many states have responded to its call for tents, blankets and helicopters.

However, Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said more was needed.

I saw death in front of me... this was the worst nightmare with open eyes

Jahangeer, Lahore

The US has promised $50m for relief operations and Kuwait pledged $100m.

Six helicopters have now arrived in Pakistan from the US airbase in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The US ambassador to Islamabad, Ryan Crocker, said planes with US relief supplies were forming a “virtual air bridge” into Pakistan.

The country has said it will accept aid from India, but has ruled out a joint rescue operation along their frontier dividing the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Pakistan has asked the United Nations to take the lead in co-ordinating the international response, the body’s relief co-ordinator says.

Jan Egeland said hundreds of thousands, if not millions, had been left homeless.

“We know that every hour counts in an earthquake of this magnitude,” he said.

Roads opened

The rescue effort was slowed by landslides which wiped out roads and bridges, and a lack of helicopters to ferry in heavy lifting equipment.

WORST-HIT AREAS
Pakistani-run Kashmir: At least 17,000 dead
Pakistan’s North-West Frontier province: At least 1,600 dead
Islamabad: At least 25 dead
Indian-run Kashmir: At least 950 dead

But the Pakistani authorities have now re-opened roads into Muzaffarabad and the flattened town of Balakot in Pakistan’s North West Frontier, where people have been digging in the rubble for survivors.

In Muzaffarabad, almost the whole population has spent the past two days in the open, in a city where every second building was destroyed and 11,000 are thought to have died.

The BBC’s Aamer Ahmed Khan in the city says people have become more and more desperate, with supply trucks mobbed and reports of looting at damaged shops and homes.

Foreign rescue teams have brought in equipment to locate survivors in the rubble.

The BBC’s Andrew North said there were distressing scenes at two schools in Balakot, as the bodies of children were brought out of the wreckage.

He says he saw 30 bodies that had been recovered from a boys’ school laid out on a tennis court, while about 100 bodies were removed from a girls’ school.

HOW TO DONATE
Unicef
Oxfam
World Food Programme
Kashmir International Relief Fund
Red Cross/ Red Crescent

The disaster wiped out a generation of young people in the areas worst hit, a military official has said.

The earthquake, which hit at 0350GMT on Saturday, is thought to have been the strongest the region has seen in a century.

Some reports suggest the death toll may double.

The toll is also rising in Indian-administered Kashmir, where officials say 950 people have died.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2005/10/10 16:58:36 GMT

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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Something is better than nothing, but 8 choppers wouldn't even take up 1/4 of an aircraft carrier

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and you can land a c13 cargo in your back garden?

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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

now thats a bit too much to ask for.

QUIZRAMA by Raju Jamil
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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Then why is Dawn reporting that all 8 helicopters arrived in Islamabad?

http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/11/top7.htm

And Jang is syaing the same thing as well.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2005-daily/11-10-2005/main/main11.htm

Meanwhile, the long awaited US helicopters finally arrived in Pakistan and according to the spokesperson they are already to operate in areas where devastation and lack of road access needs their services on top priority.

“These helicopters would be flown by American crew members as is the case with the other ones that are helping out. The nationality of the crew is not an issue,” she said. Earlier there were reports that Pakistan had indicated that it did not need any American troops for rescue efforts and it would prefer to use its own pilots to fly these choppers.

Besides pledging financial assistance, and Chinook helicopters, the US has also sent 5,000 blankets, 250 rolls of plastic sheets and 5,000 Jerry Canes which have been handed over to the Cabinet Division for onward distribution. Two rescue teams were also expected from the United States on Monday.

The eight heavy-lifting US helicopters from Afghanistan flew into Pakistan from Afghanistan more than 72 hours after the quake hit Pakistan. This was despite the fact that the choppers were right next-door in Afghanistan. A large C-17 aircraft also flew to Pakistan carrying 12 palettes of food, water and blankets, the US military said, as the relief operation after Saturday’s huge earthquake kicked into gear.

The helicopters, five large Chinooks and three smaller Black Hawks, would deliver aid, transport personnel and airlift survivors, a US military spokesman said. The twin-rotor Chinooks were useful for “lifting support” as they were able to pick up several people at once and carry tonnes of aid, he said.

“The Black Hawks are smaller, they have more manoeuvrability, are quicker transport and efficient, useful in rescue operations,” he said. Later, the US Ambassador in Pakistan said that the US would donate US 50 million initially and this was not a final sum as it could increase keeping in mind the assessments made in the future about the disaster.

DECEMBER AKHRI HOGA......
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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Some people are pessimist, I hope theyearn to appreciate whatever is available to them.

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2 more US helicopters, disaster assistance response team arrive

ISLAMABAD, October 14 (Online): Two additional U.S. military CH-53 helicopters arrived Thursday, bringing the total of U.S. military helicopters conducting relief operations to ten.

Eight-member Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) arrived in Islamabad on October 12. The team’s mission is to assess humanitarian needs, assist with targeting and coordination of U.S. assistance, and provide technical assistance as needed.

A fact sheet issued by the Office of the spokesman for the Department of State says that a 23-member Contingency Support Group from McGuire Air Force Base also arrived in Islamabad on October 12 and will be involved in planning and logistics support.

The United States’ initial $50 million relief package includes food, water, medical supplies, blankets, tents and humanitarian assistance personnel to assist Pakistan following the earthquake that struck on October 8. The Department of Defense is providing additional transportation, food, tents and other relief supplies. We continue to coordinate with the government of Pakistan to assess needs and facilitate distribution.

October 12, two C-17 aircraft, four C-130 aircraft, one Mi-8 aircraft and one UC-35 aircraft arrived Islamabad carrying medical supplies, relief supplies, water, cots, doctors, and humanitarian assistance personnel.

According to the attached fact-sheet, issued October 12, 10 Emergency Health Kits are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Friday, October 15. Each kit serves 10,000 people for three months.

End.

The U.S. has increased contributions of food and medical aid to Pakistan, adding more military helicopters to deliver supplies and airlift victims from some of the worst hit areas.

Mark Jones
US Chief Warrant Officer Mark Jones
The large Chinook helicopters can carry up to 40 casualties at a time but Mark Jones, U.S. Chief Warrant Officer, says it’s an overwhelming task because so many are injured. “The real hardship is the people out here. We can’t get it out fast enough for them. We come here and try to make as many trips a day as we can. We won’t get enough up there.”

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Yeah, more aid is essential if Pakistan wants to recover without screwing up its economy in the process...

Has Dubai/Mideast fever gripped your family or desi social circle yet?
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^^some patriot you are! Pakistanis don't lack money. They lack true patriots. Foreign aid is not going to help if we have leftie kommies jumping up and down on an injured country.

sheyn's juicy blog
sheyn's juicy blog
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Re: US moving 8 helicopters to Pakistan for relief efforts

Going out, the helicopters take tents, medicine and food - more than 9,000 pounds of aid every trip. En route to Muzaffarabad, our helicopter flew over thousands of desperate people, many waving flags in the air to attract the attention of the rescuers.
**
As soon as the helicopters are unloaded, the crews start carrying the wounded back to hospitals around Islamabad.
**
When asked how many injured the crew will take back, one U.S. pilot said more than they should, but as many as they can. Volunteers helped load at least 40 people on board our chopper.

Thirty minutes later, the helicopter is back outside the capital.

As the patients are whisked onto waiting ambulances, Pakistani military officials coordinate the next flight with their U.S. counterparts.

Brigadier General Shah Jehan says the American support is having an immediate impact on the country’s relief operations.

“They are doing a wonderful job. And the number of casualties they have brought here since yesterday and the vigor with which they are working, it is really excellent,” commented General Jehan.