Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat The public campaign to help the Pakistani earthquake victims launched by King Abdullah and broadcast live on Saudi Television, received until 02:45 a.m (Saudi local time) an amount of SR 121, 237, 007 in cash donations.

Among major donations were 10 million riyals (2.6 million dollars) by King Abdullah, seven million riyals (1.8 million dollars) by Saudi oil giant Aramco and three million riyals (800,000 dollars) by Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, who led the organization for the drive, according to Saudi television. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have pledged financial aid and sent large amounts of relief assistance to Pakistan, where the October 8 quake left more than 50,000 people dead, around 74,000 injured, and over three million homeless. The United Nations” top relief official warned Thursday that the shortfall in aid for earthquake victims made the situation worse than after the Indian Ocean tsunami last year.