Earthquake victims sent more aid

The Shelterboxes are destined for mountain communities

The Cornish charity Shelterbox is sending more aid to the victims of last year's South Asia earthquake.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, the group provided emergency accommodation to house 130,000 people.

Since then, rebuilding work in parts of the countries affected has been slow. The charity's additional aid will help before winter sets in.

The charity is sending one lorry with 200 aid boxes from its Helston base on Wednesday and another 200 on Friday.

Second winter

The 400 Shelterboxes will provide accommodation for about 8,000 people as the boxes include two 10-man tents instead of the one tent usually inside.

As well as the tents, the boxes include sleeping bags, cooking stoves and utensils, a tool kit, plastic bags and water purification tablets.

About 75,000 people were killed in Pakistan and Kashmir by the earthquake on 8 October, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.

Hugh Thomas, of Shelterbox, said most of the aid was destined for mountain communities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

He said: "After the lorries go we will fly members of our team to Islamabad, who will then follow the boxes and work with the Pakistan National Rural Support Programme to get it to the mountains."

One year on, about 400,000 people face a second winter without permanent shelter in the mountains and valleys of northern Pakistan, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.