Quake toll jumps to estimated 35,000
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-11 21:25

Even longtime foe India planned to send a planeload of food, tents and medicine after Pakistan set aside its often-bitter rivalry with its nuclear neighbor and said that it would accept New Delhi's aid. Islamabad, however, declined an offer of Indian helicopters.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the earthquake in Kashmir as a national calamity, saying the government will spare no expense to help the survivors.

Singh said India's death toll had reached 1,300, with another 4,500 injured and 32,000 houses were damaged.

"Whatever is necessary, whatever is needed to rehabilitate, whatever is needed for relief, the central government stands committed to help," he said. Singh earlier announced another $111 million in assistance in addition to the $26 million already promised by his government for relief in the Himalayan territory.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said his government was doing its best to respond to the crisis.

"We are doing whatever is humanly possible," Musharraf said. "There should not be any blame game. We are trying to reach all those areas where people need our help."

In Muzaffarabad, a doctor, Iqbal Khan, said survivors were at risk for diarrhea and pneumonia if drinking water and other supplies did not arrive quickly.

In the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, rescuers continued digging through the ruins of a 10-story apartment building after pulling a woman and child to safety. Asim Shafik, who was assisting in rescue efforts, said voices were heard in the rubble, where at least two dozen people died.