Pakistan earthquake survivors wait for aid

PAKISTAN: Rescuers on Thursday struggled to deliver aid to villagers in remote parts of southwest Pakistan after a powerful earthquake destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 215 people.

The 6.4-magnitude pre-dawn quake on Wednesday flattened mud-brick houses and triggered landslides in the impoverished province of Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan, killing or injuring their occupants as they slept.

But international and Pakistani agencies were struggling to get help to survivors who spent a freezing night in the open, with rescuers discovering more victims as they reached remote villages that had still not seen any aid.

“The total I had last night was 215 dead. This figure may go up as there were whole families who disappeared in the disaster,” provincial revenue minister Zamarak Khan told AFP.

Some of the new deaths were caused by a strong aftershock on Wednesday, he said.

The district health officer in the historic hill town of Ziarat, Ayub Khan, added: “There are many tiny villages located in remote hilly areas which health officials have not yet been able to survey.

“We are trying to reach those areas after which we fear the death toll may rise further.”

Destitute survivors sat beside campfires or huddled together as day broke over the mountainous quake zone. “We are doomed,” said Mohammed Hashim, a resident of Wam, the worst affected of eight villages that were hit hard by the quake. “We have nothing left to save our families from the cold in the night.” Officials said at least 6,000 and possibly twice as many had been made homeless.

Relief was coming in slowly, mainly because key roads had been damaged, said Amjad Rashid, head of the Taraqi (development) Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation.

“People are not satisfied. They are demanding more and more. They say the relief operation should be expedited,” Rashid said.

Kan Bangla, Thursday, AFP