Food and other relief aid flowed into more areas of northern Pakistan on Wednesday as rescue operations in the devastating Kashmir earthquake increasingly became a relief mission for those who survived. But four days after the quake that local officials believe may have claimed as many as 40,000 lives, many of the worst affected had yet to see any aid, despite huge pledges from around the world, according to a report of Reuters. "Our resources are very stretched -- every time we rush to one place we hear of another place that is worse," said army Colonel Y.P. Sayyaj in the mountain town of Bata Mora in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. "I know people are suffering but we have to prioritize. Everyone will get help in the end." At the entrance to every small town and village driving up the mountain, entire populations waited in the hope of aid. At Bata Mora, about 250 km (155 miles) from Islamabad, a big crowd was waiting but no supplies had yet arrived. The official toll from Saturday's quake remains at 23,000 dead and 51,000 injured in Pakistan, and 1,200 deaths on the Indian side of the border, called the Line of Control. The United Nations has put the toll at least 30,000.
