Trucks of aid arrived in the ruined capital of Pakistan-ruled Kashmir today, and victims scuffled for badly needed food and blankets three days after a devastating earthquake flattened whole communities, killing tens of thousands and leaving millions homeless.

US military helicopters helped ferry wounded people from the wrecked city of Muzaffarabad, while international rescue teams joined the search for survivors before the window of hope for finding people alive begins to close.

Pakistan’s government officially put the death toll at just over 20,000, but local officials estimated much higher fatalities – perhaps twice as high.

With winter just six weeks away, the United Nations has said 2.5 million people in the worst-hit areas near the mountainous Pakistan-India border need shelter.

About 10 trucks brought by Pakistani charities and volunteers rumbled into Muzaffarabad early today. Attempts by relief workers for an orderly distribution dissolved into chaos as residents scuffled for the handouts of cooking oil, sugar, rice, blankets and tents.

It was the first major influx of aid since the 7.6-magnitude quake struck on Saturday morning, destroying most homes and all government buildings in this city, and leaving its 600,000 people without power or water. Most have had to spend the three cold nights without shelter.

Two or three police looked on helplessly as more than 200 people raided a stockpile of foodstuffs arranged by relief workers at a soccer field near the city centre – one of six designated aid distribution points in Muzaffarabad.

One man could be seen making off with a big sack of sugar, another left on a motorised rickshaw with a big crate of drinking water.

“Relief activity has started on a massive level,” said deputy city commissioner Masood-ur Rehman.

He said two army brigades would start clearing roads and debris in the city today.

The UN World Food Program began a major airlift of emergency supplies.

Pakistan army spokesman General Shaukat Sultan said a total of 30 helicopters, including eight from the US military, would be supplying food, water, medicines and other items to quake victims.

Two more German and four Afghan helicopters would arrive later today, he said.

Rescue teams, including Britons, Germans and Turks, were using high-tech cameras and lifting gear to search for survivors under piles of concrete, steel and wood.

In the small northern town of Balakot, where at least three schools crumbled in the quake, Pakistani troops aided by French experts yesterday rescued 40 children and retrieved 60 bodies from one of the schools.

Sajid Awan, a resident, said workers resumed their search early today and had pulled out more bodies, and were trying to reach buried classrooms where more children might still be alive.

In North West Frontier Province, at least 3,500 people have died and more than 8,500 are injured, and many areas have yet to be reached by rescue teams, an official of the crisis management office said.

He said that about 10,000 to 12,000 people may have died, according to unconfirmed reports.

“We know that several villages in Mansehra district were completely wiped out, and many among the dead were children,” said the official.

On Pakistan’s side of the militarised border in divided Kashmir, senior officials estimate the toll at between 25,000 and 30,000. On the Indian side, the toll rose today to 1,005.

President General Pervez Musharraf said his government was doing its best to respond to the crisis. He has appealed for international help, particularly cargo helicopters to reach remote areas cut off by landslides.

“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.”

Eight US helicopters – five Chinook transport choppers and three Black Hawks for heavy lifting – have been diverted from the war in neighbouring Afghanistan. They carried supplies, tarpaulins and equipment, including high-tech cameras for finding buried survivors.

Three military cargo planes with blankets, tents, meals and water also arrived.

Pakistan also said it would accept aid from its long-time rival India, which promised tents, food and medicine. However, Islamabad declined an offer of helicopters and has ruled out a joint rescue operation along the disputed frontier.

The nations fought two wars over Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety. A 15-year insurgency opposed to New Delhi’s rule has killed more than 66,000 people, mostly civilians.

In Muzaffarabad, a doctor, Iqbal Khan, said survivors were at risk for diarrhoea and pneumonia if drinking water and other supplies did not arrive quickly.

In the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, rescuers continued digging through the ruins of a 10-story apartment building after pulling a woman and child to safety. Asim Shafik, who was assisting in rescue efforts, said voices were heard in the rubble, where at least two dozen people died.

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