800,000 without shelter after Asia quake - UN

The United Nations has warned that 800,000 people are still without shelter more than two weeks after South Asia's huge earthquake…

The United Nations has warned that 800,000 people are still without shelter more than two weeks after South Asia's huge earthquake struck.

The organisation has renewed an urgent call for help before the winter closes in.

The 7.6 earthquake is believed to have killed as many as 79,000 people, mostly in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir, and destroyed the homes of more than three million people.

Mr Rashid Kalikov, UN co-ordinator for humanitarian assistance in Muzaffarabad, said with winter looming 800,000 people still had no shelter whatsoever.

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"The lives of thousands are at risk and they urgently need our help," Mr Kalikov said. "The scale of this calamity is beyond the capacity of any country."

India has said it is prepared to open relief camps for earthquake survivors from the Pakistani side of Kashmir as early as Tuesday.

India has provided tons of relief goods, but it has been moving ahead cautiously with proposals from Pakistan that Kashmiris be allowed to cross back and forth between the two nations' zones in Kashmir - a region claimed by both countries and over which they have fought two of their three wars.

Pakistan's most senior relief official said the official death toll is more than 53,000 dead and 75,000 injured, though central figures have lagged behind regional ones.

Figures from officials in the North West Frontier Province and Pakistan's part of Kashmir add up to about 78,000. India reported 1,360 deaths in its part of Kashmir.