Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan relief operations after the Oct. 8 earthquake have less than 50 percent of the funds needed to bring aid to survivors facing the first snows from the Himalayan winter that is setting in, the United Nations said.

The UN earlier appealed for $550 million to help the survivors of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that killed 73,331 people and injured 69,392 in Pakistan. About 400,000 houses were damaged and 3.3 million people left homeless. More than 1,200 died on the Indian side of divided Kashmir.

``We need ongoing and additional support in the next few days so we could reach as many of the remaining vulnerable people as possible,'' the UN said, according to a dispatch on the Web site of its news service.

Snowfalls hampered operations yesterday in the mountainous earthquake zone and the first casualties of winter were recorded, Agence France-Presse reported. A three-month-old boy and a young girl died of pneumonia and an older man was killed by hypothermia, AFP said, citing Andrew Macleod, chief operations officer at the UN emergency response center.

Hundreds of children have pneumonia, AFP said in a later report, citing Sardar Mahmood Khan, a district health officer in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Forecasting Snow

Pakistan's weather office forecasts snowfalls of as much as 10 feet this winter on mountains above 8,000 feet in the earthquake region.

The temperature will drop to as low as 10 centigrade below freezing (14 Fahrenheit) tomorrow in villages at 8,000 feet and above near Muzaffarabad, the weather office forecast today on its Web site. The weather is forecast to be dry and sunny this week, it said.

Aid agencies need more support in the next few days to reach as many of the remaining vulnerable people as possible, a UN statement said today, citing Macleod.

UN Goodwill Ambassador and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie yesterday ended a tour of higher altitude villages where icy winds and driving snow were hampering operations, the UN said on the newswire Web site.

``This is not just one disaster that has happened,'' Jolie was cited as saying. ``There is another disaster that could happen very soon if there is not enough coordination and money on the ground as soon as possible.''

Keeping Focused

There is concern that support may be shifting away from urgent relief needs to long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Nov. 25 in a statement.

``It is important to start building new hospitals and schools as soon as possible but it's most urgent to save the lives of thousands of children who could then make use of these schools,'' Jan Vandemoortele, the UN's humanitarian coordinator, said in the statement.

Pakistan on Nov. 19 got international aid pledges of $5.8 billion to be used to bring immediate relief supplies to survivors and to rebuild damaged cities in Pakistan's Kashmir region and North West Frontier province.

The UN has received $216 million, or 39 percent of the flash appeal, the Nov. 25 statement said.

``We urgently need extra millions of dollars to reach the earthquake survivors and other vulnerable victims, especially before the winter sets in,'' the statement said.

About 1.3 million people are estimated as food insecure and the funding for food distribution could run-out by mid-winter. Pakistan's winter season starts in November and ends in March.

To contact the reporter for this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad, Pakistan kqayum@bloomberg.net; Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo at asheldrick@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 29, 2005 03:43 EST