The United Nations is asking for another $250 million in immediate emergency aid, saying that otherwise thousands of survivors of Pakistan's earthquake will die in the snow that is soon to hit the Himalayan region.
U.N. emergency coordinator in Pakistan Jan Vandemoortele says the world body has asked for $550 million but so far has received only $117 million. A fresh appeal on Thursday generated only $16 million. He told a news conference in Mazaffarabad Friday that another $250 million is urgently needed.
United Nations officials also are warning that helicopters delivering relief supplies to quake survivors in Pakistan could be grounded soon by a lack of funding.
Late Friday, a team of Indian officials arrived in Pakistan for talks on opening the de facto border in Kashmir to help save the lives of thousands of survivors.
In Indian Kashmir, the region's top cleric again called for opening the border, and tens of thousands of people held Friday prayers for the victims. Most of the 55,000 people who died were Kashmiris.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
