LIGHT OF HOPE

In this picture city councillor Mohammed Riaz - who is from Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir - is joined by his grandson Sami Ali in praying for members of their community.

Meanwhile, a massive fund-raising drive was swinging into action in Worcester to help victims of Saturday's earthquake.

Mr Riaz said there were mixed feelings among Pakistani people in the city now that the magnitude of the disaster had sunk in.

He said: "People are relieved that their loved ones are safe, but others are still waiting for news, and our thoughts are with them."

Mr Riaz said Pakistani people in Worcester had been touched by the support and sympathy received from fellow citizens.

Former mayor fronts drive for quake cash

A MASSIVE fund-raising campaign has been laun-ched in Worcester to help the victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

Former city mayor Allah Ditta is fronting the drive, while the four Rotary clubs and numerous charity shops have also vowed to help. Residents are being urged to do their bit by digging deep into their pockets.

As revealed in yesterday's News, more than 1,000 Pakistani people living in Worcester have relatives in the stricken Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and in Pakistan itself, which was also severely affected.

Councillor Allah Ditta, who is from the village of Kalyal Sheroo in Kashmir, is one of many still waiting to hear news of loved ones - he knows most of his family escaped injury, but cannot contact two relatives.

He said: "I thank God that my family are OK, but others most definitely are not - 37 people died in my village alone and I have not heard from two relatives. There are several others in the same situation, and some will not have good news.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do for the dead, except pray, but we can help the living. We can give reassurances to the Pakistani people in Worcester, and to those in the affected areas that the community here is thinking about them. I know the residents of Worcester are very generous people - I witnessed that when I started a campaign during my mayoral year after the tsunami - and I am asking them once more to help."

The city's four Rotary Clubs, Worcester, Worcester South, Worcester Severn and Worcester Wychavon, were among the first to promise support.

David Inight, president of Worcester Rotary, said his club was putting up the money for a shelter box, which contains a 10-man tent, sleeping bags, tools and cooking aids.

Likewise, charity shops in Worcester have also risen to the occasion. Oxfam has launched a national appeal but is also busy collecting money locally at its two shops in Mealcheapen Street and High Street.

An Evesham man is part of the rescue team in Pakistan racing against time to find survivors of the Kashmir earthquake.

Jonathan Wharrad, of Briar Close, flew out to Islamabad on Saturday with a team of around 25 volunteers from the search and rescue charity, RAPID UK.

They are working through the rubble of a collapsed 10-storey building, searching for survivors. The team has already rescued five people, including a two-year-old boy and his mother.

More than 30,000 people are thought to have died - 20,000 in Pakistan itself, and about 11,000 in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the site of the epicentre.

RELIEF AGENCIES START TO SWING INTO ACTION

THE Pakistan High Commission is dealing with relief assistance for anxious families and providing emergency visa services in their London offices and at Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester Airports.

Those worried about their relatives can call the Foreign Office information line on 020 7008 1500.

Donations for the relief efforts in the devastated south Asia region are being collected by the following agencies:

l To give to the Red Cross appeal visit www.redcross. org.uk/asianearthquake, call 08450 535 353, or write to British Red Cross Asian Earthquake Appeal, Freepost, LON18968, Sheffield, S98 1ZA.

l To donate to Oxfam's appeal, people can either log on to www.oxfam.org. uk, give cash donations at Oxfam shops or phone 0870 333 2500.

l To donate to UNICEF UK's emergency fund, call 0800 037 9797 or 08457312 312 or go to www.unicef.

org.uk

Muslim Aid is on 020 7377 4200. Its website can be contacted at www.muslimaid.org

Donations to Islamic Relief can be made to its appeal hotline - 0121 6220622 - or its website, www.islamic-relief.org.uk

The Red Cross set up a dedicated website which can be found on www.family links.icrc. org/epi

Citizens answer the call for help

WHEN people - wherever they are in the world and whatever their nationality - are in need, the citizens of Worcester always answer the call.

At the beginning of this year Natu Patel sold wristbands to raise money for the victims of the Asian tsunami at his shop, Ambleside News in Ambleside Drive, Brickfields.

Now he and his wife Hansa are collecting to help those affected by the Kashmir quake.

Mr Patel said: "We have people come in and put money in the collections box. Whatever we can raise we'll send off to help.

"The earthquake was devastating. One is lost for words."

Ifty Shah, who runs Spice Cuisine restaurant, Bromyard Road, St John's, said: "Within my family we have raised some money, which we have given to the charity Islamic Relief.

"I'm trying to get hold of someone at Oxfam. Hopefully, we can organise something in Worcester so we can raise some money.

"In the restaurant we have a collection box and all the proceeds will go to Oxfam."

About half the children who attend Stanley Road Primary School, near Wyld's Lane, Worcester, are Pakistani.

Headteacher Anne Potter said: "We haven't had a school assembly about the earthquake. It's difficult to raise this issue with seven to 11-year olds.

"But the children will have talked about it in class. We have circle time. This when the children sit in a big circle and pass round an object.

"Whoever has the object gets to speak about issues."

Survivors scuffle as aid starts to arrive

LORRIES full of aid arrived in the ruined capital of Pakistan-ruled Kashmir today, and victims scuffled for food and blankets three days after a devastating earthquake flattened whole communities, killing tens of thousands and leaving millions homeless.

US military helicopters helped ferry wounded people from the wrecked city of Muzaffarabad, while international rescue teams joined the search for survivors before the window of hope for finding people alive begins to close.

Pakistan officially put the death toll at just over 20,000, but local officials estimated much higher - perhaps twice as high. With winter just six weeks away, the United Nations has said 2.5 million people in the worst-hit areas near the Pakistan-India border need shelter.

About 10 trucks brought by Pakistani charities and volunteers rumbled into Muzaffarabad this morning. Attempts by relief workers for an orderly distribution dissolved into chaos as residents scuffled for the handouts of cooking oil, sugar, rice, blankets and tents.

It was the first major influx of aid since the 7.6-magnitude quake struck on Saturday, destroying most homes and all government buildings in the city, and leaving its 600,000 people without power or water.