| ISLAMABAD: At least 17,000 Pakistani children died when their schools collapsed in the October 8 earthquake, and the trauma for the survivors is worse than after the Asian tsunami, the UNICEF chief said on Monday. âWe are estimating that at least 17,000 pupils were killed in schools. Thatâs the one number that we have some estimate on,â UN Childrenâs Fund Executive Director Ann Veneman said in Islamabad. According to UNICEF estimates, between 1.6 million and 2.2 million children have been affected by the earthquake. Veneman said that even those children who survived were traumatised. âThe trauma that these children have experienced has been particularly worse, even more than other tragedies like the tsunami,â she said. âThey were in school when the quake struck. Many of the survivors have injuries and lost important people.â |