Relief flights resume in Pak quake zone

The choppers were delivering food and other vital supplies to remote villages in the Himalayan heights of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and North West Frontier Province, although roads remained blocked.

"Relief work has resumed, the helicopters started sorties to drop relief goods to the quake-hit areas early on Wednesday," aIS Pakistan Army spokesman Major Farooq Nasir.

As sun brought relief from sub-zero temperatures survivors repaired their tents and shopped in the dilapidated markets of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir.

"Thank God, the weather is clear today and helicopters are flying sorties," said Shahid Hasan, the police chief of Pakistani Kashmir. "But our main thrust is to keep the road network open."

Officials said there was no shortage of food in towns and cities as stocks had already been built up in the region, which was hit by a giant quake on October 8 that killed more than 73,000 people and made 3.5 million homeless.

Survivors living in refugee camps in Muzaffarabad and other towns expressed relief that the weather had cleared, after the snow and rain caused a number of tents to collapse in recent days.

"Thanks to Allah that the rains have stopped, which had amplified all our miseries," said quake survivor Ali Ahmed, 48, while standing outside his damp, sagging tent.

However the meteorological department said a cold snap following the snowfall was likely to grip quake-hit areas for the next three to five days.

Aid agencies have warned that most of the hundreds of thousands of tents being used in the quake zone are not made for winter season.