Victims of the South Asia earthquake have sent a heartfelt plea for help direct to the people of Bradford.

As pounding rain hampered the rescue operation in the devastated region, the head of a Bradford-based charity appealed for help from Mirpur.

Chairman of the Bradford-based Aagrah chain of restaurants, Mohammad Sabir, who founded JANNAT Welfare International Trust, was in the region when the 7.6 quake hit Kashmir and Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Mr Sabir, of Emm Lane, has stayed on to help with the rescue effort and to buy vital supplies for victims of the earthquake from money raised by people across the Bradford district.

"Please, please, help the people," said Mr Sabir, 65. "There has been very heavy rain and it makes more work. It is very bad. There are dead bodies coming every day. Everybody is crying. Children do not sleep, they do not eat, they do not talk."

"We need help. About 85 per cent of the houses in Muzaffarabad have been destroyed and the people who are there have no-one to help them - just a few people from the Pakistani army.

"Helicopters are bringing some people from Muzaffarabad to Islamabad. The man in charge of one of the hospitals called Holy Family asked me for help. He said he had 700 people."

JANNAT Welfare International Trust was able to spend about £2,000 on medicine and was waiting on more funds raised in Bradford yesterday.

"The money is coming," said Mr Sabir. "But I am worried. One team came to me and asked for coffins for 2,000 people. We also need tents, blankets and some dry food."

Mr Sabir and a team of about 20 people plan to travel to Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot with supplies and to help bury the dead.

"A lot of people are away in the village and there are no roads," said Mr Sabir. "There is no transport other than helicopter. We are asking every government to send helicopters."

Mr Sabir, 65, was driving in Mirpur when he was caught up in the horror.

"I was very frightened . We thought we were going to die," he said.

Zafar Tanweer, of Denholme, was still waiting to hear news of friends and family today.

His nephew Sherjeel Hassan returned to Mirpur yesterday from Muzaffarabad after rescuing relatives.

Speaking from Mirpur the 38-year-old architect said: "A seven-year-old boy told me he was the only survivor from his village. He said he had travelled 20 hours on foot to reach Muzaffarabad. He was thin and hungry. He was just seven years old and he was begging for food from everyone. We need food and water.

"There is nothing left there - no food, no water, no homes, no electricity - nothing. Beneath a college building there are 40 students aged from 15 to 20. I could hear their voices from the building but you cannot do anything for them. There was lots of debris. We were using our hands. Everyone is trying to rescue their loved ones."

Mr Hassan managed to find his 14-year-old niece in the rubble.

"She was unconscious with a desk on top of her face," he said. "I have a missing cousin. I brought her young children back to Mirpur with me. They are in shock."

The journey from Mirpur to the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which usually takes six to seven hours, took 11 hours.

"It's difficult for me to describe the situation," said Mr Hassan. "It's horrible. I have seen children looking for food - looking for their mothers. I couldn't find any officials. There was no administration.

"I have seen people trying to kill another person just because of bread."