World Islamic body appeals for urgent aid to Pakistan

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference on Wednesday called on member states and the international community to supply urgent aid to Pakistan, which is grappling with devastating floods.
The OIC called in a communique for the "international community in general and Islamic world in particular, at the level of individuals and states, to provide urgent material and financial aid to Pakistan."
The appeal was issued at an emergency meeting for representatives of member states of the pan-Muslim organisation.
"We are faced with a disaster of gigantic proportions which requires colossal resources to be tackled," OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the meeting. An OIC spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the Islamic Development Bank has allocated 11.2 million dollars (8.7 million euros) for assistance to Pakistan.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia raised 20.5 million dollars (15.9 billion euros) of aid on the first day of a national campaign, official SPA news agency said on Tuesday.
The kingdom has also pledged to provide 100 million dollars (77.6 million euros) in government aid to Pakistan, the Arab News daily said. Also on Tuesday, Kuwait's cabinet announced five million dollars (3.8 million euros) in relief assistance.
Pakistan's worst-ever humanitarian disaster has ravaged an area roughly the size of England, affected 20 million people, exacerbated a crippling energy crisis and raised fears of social unrest.
Ihsanoglu told the meeting that the situation in Pakistan is "very grave and unprecedented in modern history."
He said that the OIC will hold a meeting in Pakistan for Islamic Red Crescent societies and relief bodies to coordinate aid, and that contacts are continuing with Pakistan to set the date and place for the meeting.
Ihsanoglu also said that "we must seriously consider setting up an OIC emergency disaster response fund" to provide aid in times of crisis.


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18 children killed in Indian school collapse
AFP, Dehradun, India

At least 18 children died Wednesday when a school collapsed after heavy rains in northern India as the region's monsoon wreaked more havoc.
An unknown number of others were missing after the single-storey school toppled in mountainous Uttarakhand state's Bageshwar district, one of several populated areas near the Indian border with Tibet, a minister told AFP.
"Eighteen bodies of children have been brought out so far from the debris and a search is on for more and we fear the toll could go up further," state Disaster Management Minister Khajan Dass told AFP in Dehradun.
The victims were aged between five and 12 years, rescuers said.
Heavy rains have caused devastation in parts of Asia over the last month, with thousands dead in China and neighbouring Pakistan, where floods have caused the nation's worst natural disaster.
A cloudburst 12 days ago in the northern Indian region of Ladakh killed 189 people, with another 400 missing. Six foreign trekkers also died in the popular high-altitude tourist destination.
Local people at the site of the disaster reached by telephone from Dehradun said that at least 35 students and up to six teachers and staff were in the building when it collapsed.
"A massive rescue operation is under way," Dass added, as hundreds of paramilitary troopers were rushed to the disaster site in Sumgarh town, some 450 kilometres (279 miles) from state capital of Dehradun