Quake aid pours in from around world

Japan, the United States and the European Union were among the first to offer manpower and financial aid to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan following Saturday's quake, in which 30,000 to 40,000 people are feared to have died and more than 42,000 to have been injured.

"Pakistan's a friend, and the United States government and the people of the United States will help as best as we possibly can," President George W. Bush said of America's key ally in the American-declared "war on terror."

Little of the aid so far has penetrated into regions worse hit by Saturday's 7.6 Richter scale quake because the villages hardest hit are nestled remotely high on forested slopes in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, where roads and communications have been devastated.

"It's been very difficult at this stage to gauge the scale of the disaster because there are enormous logistical difficulties getting up into the north," said Andrew MacLeod of the UN's Disaster Assessment and Coordination team in the region.

To get into the region, the United States dispatched five CH-47 Chinook and three UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from neighboring Afghanistan. They were scheduled to arrive Monday to begin delivering emergency relief. Additional aircraft were to follow. Two C-13O military aircraft were dispatched with blankets, tents and other relief supplies.

In Washington, the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said the United States was also sending two disaster response teams in response to a request from President Pervez Musharraf for emergency shelter, food, water, medical supplies, transportation assets, and emergency management personnel.

"The destruction and loss of life in Pakistan is massive, and the United States is responding rapidly and robustly," McClellan said. "We will continue to coordinate with the government of Pakistan to assess needs."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday welcomed the swift international response to the earthquake in South Asia.

Annan was "greatly encouraged to see the rapid and large response by the international community to the devastating earthquake that has struck the people of Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan and India," his spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, said in a statement.