Rescuers in Pakistan battled on Tuesday to dig out more victims as donor countries rushed doctors, paramedics, medicine, food and sniffer dogs to the quake-hit south Asian country.

Desperate Pakistanis, many of them with bare hands, are battling to save thousands of people trapped in rubbles across the wide region.

Nearly two days after the disaster, more survivors have been found and pulled from the ruins. Injured people were airlifted from remote areas, and the troops distributed rice to hungry survivors.

On Monday, the troops and French team rescued 40 children and retrieved 60 bodies from the rubbles of a school that collapsed in the massive earthquake in Balakot, a scenic town in northwestern Pakistan, according to a Pakistani television station.

In the capital of Islamabad, a British rescue team pulled out an Iraqi child and his mother in the rubble, where many European, Arab and Japanese nationals were still missing after the quake destroyed the two apartment blocks.

Fearing more earthquakes, thousands of survivors outside the capital have been sleeping in the open areas, in cars or in tents, despite the night's cold and rain. Many lit fires using wood from collapsed houses.

In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-ruled Kashmir, officials said all its government and educational institutions have been destroyed, and relief efforts were hampered by landslides.

"Bodies are scattered in the city," said Masood-ur Rehman, an assistant city commissioner.

"Ninety percent of victims are still buried under the debris.

We are helpless. The city is out of order," he added.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said his government is trying its best to deal with the disaster and to save more lives.

"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."

Pakistan on Monday expressed thanks to the international community for the quick response to its call for help after Saturday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 20,000 people.

"We are overwhelmed by the international community's response to our appeal for the help for Saturday's quake victims," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said at a news conference.

Meanwhile, world leaders stepped up pledges of support, sending more experts, food, medicines and other relief supplies to the hardest-hit country.

Among the Asia-Pacific countries, China Monday provided the second batch of emergency commodities, which consists of 840 tents, 7,350 quilts and 1,670 blankets, to the neighboring country after the first batch was transported to Islamabad.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also expressed China's willingness to provide assistance to the governments of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, in a meeting with envoys from the three quake-hit neighbors.

Chinese leaders have sent condolences to the leaders of Pakistan and India and swiftly made the decision of offering 6.2 million US dollars-worth of relief aid to Pakistan. A rescue team from China arrived in Pakistan on Monday and immediately embarked on rescuing efforts.

Washington has also pledged to offer helicopters and up to 50 million US dollars in aid to Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.

"We have under way the beginning of a very major relief effort," said Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador in Islamabad.

More flights carrying rescuers and aid were expected from Russia, Iran, Japan, South Korea and dozens of other countries.

In a gesture of solidarity with Pakistan, India said it decided to send a planeload of emergency relief supplies to Islamabad.

The quake, South Asia's strongest in 100 years, has also killed almost 700 in India-controlled Kashmir.

"We plan to send (various) relief items, including tents, plastic sheets, mattresses, blankets, food items, medicines and medical supplies in a transport plane on Tuesday. It should reach Pakistan latest by Tuesday evening," Indo-Asian News Service quoted India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran as saying Monday.

Saran said that Indian Prime Minister had directed that a consignment of (relief) items should be put together on an urgent basis and delivered to Pakistan at the earliest.

This is probably the first time an Indian plane will carry relief materials to Pakistan, a five decade-long foe of New Delhi.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Pakistan would accept India's relief aid.

Source: Xinhua