EARTHQUAKE 7.6 NE Pakistan Disaster – 42,000 Dead – Chinooks Arrive

22 Comments

1. 

   catnip on October 8, 2005 at 4:07 am
2. 

   Oui on October 8, 2005 at 5:39 am

   .
   I heard no DeLay in starting rescue and relief effort by civilian and military organizations IMMEDIATELY after disaster struck the nation.

   The Pakistani didn’t waste days bickering abour far reaching authority to federal, state, city or parrish local government. Everyone just reached out in the community and did what they could, by hand and iron bars to break through concrete to rescue victims trapped underneath rubble.

   No PR ops of big wigs coming in disaster area for their own selfish goals, to get reelected by next democratic election or to uplift poor poll standings.

   In comparison, how disgusting to be living in the West and civilized society.

   If you have nothing to possess, you have no fear of losing anything, nor do you need to fight to keep it.

     «« click on pic to enlarge
   A video grab shows Pakistani men searching for survivors amidst the rubble of a damaged building in Islamabad following a major earthquake felt across the Indian sub-continent. Scores of people were feared killed or trapped in two apartments blocks reduced to rubble in Islamabad. The two tower blocks contained 75 apartments, officials said.  REUTERS/Reuters TV

   Related – Asian Tsunami Disaster   & follow up

   ▼ ▼ ▼

   • 

     DuctapeFatwa on October 8, 2005 at 9:25 am

     PM Aziz, on CNN now.

     • 

       blksista on October 9, 2005 at 4:45 am

       Osama bin Laden rumored to be sequestered in Pakistan?

       Just asking…

       • 

         Oui on October 9, 2005 at 5:09 am

         .
         Hopefully, OBL is buried solidly in one of his many hide-out caves underneath a mountain, on the Afghan-Pakistan border!

         

         Asadabad – Area Map

         ▼ ▼ ▼

       • 

         shycat on October 9, 2005 at 1:19 pm

         Think Usama is supposedly hiding out in Baluchistan– the other side of Pakistan from Kashmir.

         • 

           Oui on October 9, 2005 at 2:03 pm

           .
           Baluchistan has been flushed out, Pakistani forces are omnipresent and control area. OBL has moved across border into Afghanistan, N-NE in region from Jalalabad to Asadabad, which is controled by Taliban and Al Qaeda forces. The U.S. failed to secure area, Chinook heli was shot down, costing the lives of 18 Seals.

           Pakistan Map

           ▼ ▼ ▼

         • 

           shycat on October 9, 2005 at 2:26 pm

           okay then! 🙂

3. 

   DuctapeFatwa on October 8, 2005 at 8:19 am

   At least one village in Occupied Kashmir is said to be completely destroyed.

   Kashmir Media Svc

   Jang

   Dawn

   (On Dawn, click latest news, later they will probably change their front page, but they haven’t yet.)

4. 

   Dean Pajevic on October 8, 2005 at 10:59 am

   Since there’s a paucity of news on U.S. TV, i went to BBC … their Asian Network has LIVE reports coming in.  (World Service does not.)

   Click on Launch Radio Player, and select Asian Network.

5. 

   Mnemosyne on October 8, 2005 at 12:21 pm

   Dear Oui,

   Don’t you know by now that if it doesn’t happen in/to the U.S., it doesn’t happen? Or matter?

   Last week, Hurricane Stan decimated huge chunks of Central America and Mexican coastline to the tune of almost zero coverage in MSM.

   The whole Pacific plate seems to be getting more and more agitated. I’d guess that this quake could be traced to effects of that on the Himalayan plate. Scary times.

6. 

   DuctapeFatwa on October 8, 2005 at 4:20 pm

   The death toll from the worst ever earthquake in Pakistan has increased beyond 3000 including 1660 alone in North-West Frontier province, according to Pakistani officials.

   Amongst those killed in NWFP were male and female students.

   At least 200 soldiers of Pakistan Army have also died in the calamity and 300 other soldiers injured, according to reports.

   Pakistna Army spokesman Sahukat Sultan told that the earthquake has also caused a heavy loss to the military infrastructure.

   More serious massive losses were also been caused to country’s different areas, the spokesman said.

   nerdified link

7. 

   barbwires on October 8, 2005 at 10:58 pm

   Please pray or hold in good thought the injured, the children, and those of our brothers and sisters who died today.

     the earth shrugs and little ripples
     build to cataclysm
     to death and sorrow uncountable
     to a world’s broken heart
     how slight the differences for those
     who perch unsheltered on the thin skin
     of island, continental plate,
     mountain or coast
     shook loose like a lace shawl torn and broken
     when earth and sea dance
     only a ghostly shadow of chance
     keeps me apart

   Dec 29, 2004

8. 

   Other Lisa on October 9, 2005 at 9:00 pm

   Does anyone have an idea what the best organization would be to help? I’m considering Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Operation USA…

9. 

   DuctapeFatwa on October 9, 2005 at 10:14 pm

   Over 30,000 victims in AJK, 9,000 in NWFP; thousands await rescue under debris; 25 deaths confirmed in Margalla Towers collapse

   The death toll following Saturday’s massive earthquake rose to 35,000 on Sunday, with 30,000 victims in Azad Kashmir alone.

   The death toll in the NWFP reached 9,000, including 7,000 deaths in Hazara. At the Margalla Towers, Islamabad, 25 deaths have been confirmed. Thousands of people trapped under the debris of collapsed buildings in AJK and NWFP districts still await rescue.

   AJK Minister for Works and Communication Tariq Farooq Sunday said: “Our rough estimates say more than 30,000 people have died in the earthquake in Kashmir.” “There are cities, there are towns which have been completely destroyed. Muzaffarabad is devastated,” he added, referring to the capital of Azad Kashmir.

   The worst hit place was Bagh, 40 kilometres southeast of Muzaffarabad, Farooq said. Between 6,000 and 7,000 people are estimated to have died in the town and adjoining areas, he said. “There are no survivors in villages like Jaglari, Kufalgarh, Harigal and Baniyali in Bagh district,” Farooq said. “People have been devoured by the earth.”

   Kashmir Affairs Minister Faisal Hayat, said half of Kashmir has been “severely affected by the earthquake. Out of a population of 2.4 million more than half is affected,” apparently referring to those displaced, injured or killed.

   Army helicopters were engaged to shift the injured people to the hospitals of Murree, Abbottabad and other hospitals. No medical camp could be installed so far; people were being given first aid at open places and in streets.

   However, the UN teams have reached in the area but rescue work could not be started so for. In Azad Kashmir, Neelum Valley, Bagh, Rawala Kot, Leepa Valley, and sideline area of River Nelum were the most affected areas where a number of villages were razed. At Chehla Bandi, a building of a hospital collapsed completely and a number of patients and hospital staff were buried under the debris. Only some of them were rescued.

   ISLAMABAD: Death toll in the Margalla Tower collapse was increased to 25 including three foreigners, Sunday. Eighty-two injured people were under treatment in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), spokesman of the PIMS Dr Wasim Khawaja told The News.

   He said a state of emergency has been declared in all the hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. As many as 17 teams of doctors have been sent to various affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP, he added.

   Margalla Tower, a residential plaza in F-10 Markaz, was collapsed following a strong earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale caused widespread devastation to life and property in Pakistan, Saturday morning. Dozens of people are still trapped in the debris of the Tower.

   Meanwhile, a 42-member British Rescue team `Canis’, equipped with latest technology and sniffing dogs, has taken control of the rescue operation at the Tower and took out seven people alive from the debris. The army experts kept supervising the operation.

   A 19-member rescue team of Abu Dubai Police has also joined the rescue operation. The UK’s rescuers pulled out ten dead bodies in a slow but targeted operation. The team avoided to use heavy machinery but made use of a device for detecting the lives trapped under the debris.

   The sniffing dogs could not help the rescuers to detect the exact location where the wounded or dead bodies were lying. However, the device technology played a vital role to detect the location of the dead and survivors. Emotional scenes were witnessed during the search and rescue operation that continued for the second day today.

   People were keenly watching those engaged in the `search and rescue’ operation. And each time one of them crosses his arms over his head, a silence would prevail in the crowd. Expectations would soar and if the signal is positive, announcing a `survivor’, the crowd would cheer and shout in appreciation of the efforts made by the person and if the signal is in negative, announcing a dead body, the heads would bow in gloom and many would not be able to control voicing their anguish loudly.

   Over 600 wounded people were brought to PIMS from various affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP while 134 were under treatment in Polyclinic, 27 in CDA Hospital, 357 in CMH, 117 in Military Hospital, 123 in District Headquarters Hospital (Rawalpindi), 67 in Fauji Foundation Hospital, 129 in Holy Family Hospital, 117 in Rawalpindi General Hospital and 38 in Railway Hospital.

   ABBOTTABAD: The death toll rises to 7,000 in Hazara. Eye-witnesses told The News that six educational institutions including Shaheen Girls Degree College and Shaheen Boys Commerce college, Government Girls High School and Government Primary School in Balakot were destroyed causing loss of more than 2,500 lives.

   Mukhtiar Ahmed, talking to The News from Balakot by phone, said that the town was completely ruined. He said thousands of people were buried alive under the debris. Saeen Khan, another resident of Balakot, whose son Zeeshan, a student of 1st year is seriously injured and admitted to Ayub Teaching Hospital, said that more than 500 students were buried alive under the debris in Shaheen Commerce College.

   He said Girls High School comprising 1,100 students was destroyed and only a few students could be evacuated. Similarly Primary School Balakot has 175 students out of whom only 25 could be saved.

   Most of the buildings were devastated and roads were destroyed. More than ten thousand people were feared dead in Balakot and its surroundings, said locals. The survivors are facing acute shortage of food, drinking water and medicines. Shohal Mohaz Zullah and other adjacent villages were also badly damaged during the earthquake, said Afzal. He said they lost 17 people including twelve children in their village.

   More than 700 injured were brought to Ayub Teaching Hospital and were lodged under tents in main parks. They were provided food stuff, blanket and medicines while doctors and paramedical staff had been discharging their duties for the last 48 hours.

   Chief Executive Ayub Medical College & Teaching Hospital Professor Dr Sajjad Ahmed told The News that they have so far provided medical treatment to over 1,500 patient. He said that general public has donated blankets, medicines and tents.

   He said the government should provide sufficient resources to the hospital to cope with the situation. In Abbottabad district the death toll increased to 300. SSP Abbottabad Syed Feroz Shah told The News that more than 200 people died in Bakote circle, while hundreds of others were injured.

   Nazim Union Council Bakote Nazeer Abbassi said that death toll is higher in the area as 100 deaths were reported from village Khan Kalan alone. He said 95 houses were completely destroyed.

   Naveed Akran Abbassi, a local journalist, confirmed death of 241 people in the area. He said that 90 per cent people are shelterless and need food, drinking water and medicines.

   BALAKOT/PESHAWAR: Thousands of people are reported dead and tens of thousands trapped in the northern districts of NWFP as the rescue operation commenced in the remotest parts of the province with the arrival of army and aid workers on Sunday.

   Evacuation was going on in the mountainous districts of Battagram, Shangla, Abbottabad, Kohistan, Manshera and its worst-hit part, Balakot.

   The local police authorities told The News that bodies of 250 school children have been evacuated from the collapsed school building in Garhi Habibullah. Tens of bodies were also recovered from two schools in Balakot and Garhi Habibullah.

   Ninety per cent buildings of Balakot city and surrounding villages have been razed while thousands of inhabitants are still waiting for help under the debris.

   The cranes and rescue workers are yet to reach many of the inaccessible areas and are so far busy opening roads.

   People of the affected districts had to spend another night under open sky as rain and hailstorm further increased their miseries. Some locals feared the death toll in the region might be double than the officially confirmed figure of 19,000 to 20,000.

   According to locals screams of people including children trapped under the debris could be heard, crying for rescue. “There are many chances of survival under debris, but unfortunately there is a lack of rescue operations,” said a local, adding a man was rescued today after hours-long efforts.

   An army official has termed the reports of deaths of thousands of people in NWFP as exaggerated while the police chief of the province said the number has crossed the figure of 2,000. “We could not assess the death toll so far but the relief operation is going on in full swing,” NWFP senior minister Sirajul Haq told reporters when questioned about the actual number of casualties.

   NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has termed the destruction the biggest in the history of NWFP, which has left thousands dead and injured. Durrani visited the affected areas in Mansehra, Kohistan, Balakot, Battal, Abbottabad and Battagram.

   A team of 16 surgeons has been sent to Abbottabad to take part in rescue operations while the government has directed sending ten more specialists. The government would also set up base camp for relief activities in Mansehra from where relief operations in Battal, Shangla, Battagram and other areas would be monitored.

   Several teams of philanthropists have left for Mansehra, Battagram, Balakot, Shanglapar, Kohistan and Abbottabad to hand over relief goods and participate in rescue work. “The situation is terrible in Battal and other parts. People have lost most of their relatives and they have no shelter to live in,” Dr Shaukat Ali told The News from the affected area on telephone.

   The aid workers were critical of the state-run television and other private networks for ignoring the worst-hit Hazara region and some parts of Malakand. “They are just focussing on a building in Islamabad that would have killed less than one hundred people. But there is nobody to show to the world that thousands of women, men and children have been killed and the whole cities have been destroyed,” one Mohammad Ali complained.

   The district hospitals in Mansehra, Battagram and Abbottabad were crowded with wounded people who have been evacuated form the debris of their houses and offices. Several injured were shifted to the major hospitals in Peshawar and Islamabad.

   nerdified link

10. 

    DuctapeFatwa on October 9, 2005 at 10:17 pm

    to earthquake relief effort,

    Donations can be deposited in any branch of  UBL in Pakistan giving following details.
    Account Title MKRF – Pakistan Earthquake Relief Fund
    Bank Name United Bank Limited
    Account No. 0102598-5
    Branch Code 1234
    Branch Name Al-Rehman Branch
    Branch Address I. I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi , Pakistan
    For international telegraphic transfer from any bank abroad also indicate
    Swift Code U N I L P K KA

    Donate Rs. 3/= per SMS towards MKRF Relief Fund – SMS the word DONATE to 436 – Each SMS cost Rs. 3/= + taxes -Send as many SMS as you can.  This is a joint effort by GEO, Mobilink and Ufone

    nerdified link

11. 

    Salunga on October 10, 2005 at 3:47 am

    More donation links:

    Here’s a link to UNICEF part way down the page is an earthquake relief link.
    UNICEF

    A link to Mercy Corps. Right side donate now button Pakistani Quake relief is highlighted.
    Mercy Corps

12. 

    Oui on October 10, 2005 at 7:37 am

    .

    UNICEF   ●   UN Coordinates Relief and Aid

    

    Pakistan, India - Earthquake: OCHA Situation Report No. 4 -
Most roads to affected region blocked, 4.5 million people estimated in need of winter shelter  

     
    Wikipedia – Pakistan Earthquake 10-05

    Table of contents

    1. News & Information
    2. Relief, Donations, and Information ● Organizations:

        Pakistani ● International ● US Diaspora ● US Muslim ● UK

    3. Canada ● Volunteering in affected regions
    4. International Response
    5. Government-Related ● Pakistan ● USA
    6. Technical Information
    7. Personal Accounts
    8. Useful Links

      «« click on pic for map links

    ▼ ▼ ▼

13. 

    DuctapeFatwa on October 10, 2005 at 9:19 am

    In occupied Kashmir, despite the earthquake-havoc, Indian troops continued their state-terrorism, martyring eleven more Kashmiri youth.

    Of these, eight were shot dead in Gulmarg and one in Dangiwacha, in Baramulla. Three got killed in Kokernag area. One Indian soldier was killed and two others injured in an attack in Jamia Galli in Baramulla.

    Unidentified gunmen killed five members of two families in Budhal area of Rajouri. Another four of a family were similarly killed at Babbar and one in Kulhar, in the same district.  

    nerdified link

14. 

    Oui on October 10, 2005 at 10:02 am

    .
        Eight helicopters were flown in from Afghanistan a few hours ago, and are indispensable to carry troops and heavy equipment into remote mountain area, to clear roads from land slides.  This is of utmost importance to reach the demolished cities and carry supplies by road with food, tents, medical supplies and mobile medical units for first aid.

    ENORMOUS DEVASTATION OF MOUNTAIN VILLAGES

      «« click on pic to enlarge

    Pakistani Kashmiri people evacuate form the devastated Pakistani town of Balakot. Donor nations rushed doctors, helicopters, food, tents and sniffer dogs to quake-devastated Pakistan as the death toll from the disaster topped 30,000.  REUTERS/David Brunnstrom

    The U.S. Ambassador in Pakistan, told the BBC than the U.S. Forces have excellent cooperation with their Pakistani counterparts for further logistics to forward relief supplies from Kuwait, Afghanistan and the Gulf Emirates. In stages the additional relief and aid goods will be airlifted from the States.

    CCNi – Rescuers Search Frantically for Survivors

    ▼ ▼ ▼

15. 

    DuctapeFatwa on October 10, 2005 at 11:45 pm

    Global Emergencies Fund

    Medecins Sans Frontieres

    props to alex at peopleforchange.com

16. 

    Oui on November 4, 2005 at 6:49 am

    .
    More aid needed, says Musharraf

    General and Dictator Musharraf of Pakistan was disappointed by response for monetary aid to last month’s earthquake and the emergency relief needed for thousands of its victims.

    

    RELATED DIARIES —

    Why I Didn’t Blog Last Night

    EARTHQUAKE 7.6 NE Pakistan Disaster  42,000 Dead – Chinooks Arrive

    “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
    For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

    ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY