Baluchistan quake toll 355; militants target aid chopper

AWARAN: Two rockets fired by militants in Pakistan’s quakestruck region narrowly missed a government helicopter on Thursday as survivors complained that aid was not reaching far-flung areas and the harrowing death toll climbed to 355.

The attack underscored the dangers authorities and aid workers face in helping victims in southwestern Baluchistan province.

Two days after the tremor struck, rescuers were still strug-

MOST OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE EARTHQUAKE ARE DYING NOW BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO FOOD OR WATER

ABDUL LATIF, a survivor

gling to help survivors. .

In the town of Arawan, about 100 protesters gathered around the district office to call attention to the plight of those living in outlying villages still waiting for help. “The people who sur- vived the earthquake are dying now because they have no food or water,” said Abdul Latif, one of the protesters.

Tuesday’s massive quake was centered in Awaran district, one of the poorest in Pakistan’s most impoverished province, Baluchistan. The area’s medical infrastructure has struggled to care for the hundreds of injured who were crushed beneath mud brick houses when the quake struck. That task has been made even harder by the danger from separatists in Baluchistan who have been battling the Pakistani government for years.