Muzaffarabad, Pakistan ? The world pledged a whopping $3.4 billion in new quake aid for Pakistan at a make-or-break donor conference Saturday, but aid groups warned that much of the promises were loans that will heap more debt on the impoverished country.

Pakistan nonetheless hailed the conference as a success, with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf thanking the nearly 80 attending nations and international agencies for “helping Pakistan in this hour of need.” He said the gesture “will never be forgotten.”

The conference followed weeks of largely unheeded warnings from the United Nations and aid groups that thousands could die of hunger, exposure and disease unless money arrives before the harsh Himalayan winter. Hundreds of thousands of survivors face a season of suffering as temperatures dip well below freezing in the mountains, with children and the elderly most at risk.