AJK quake death toll climbs to 37

[ahlam1399]

JATLAN: Rescuers battled along badly damaged roads and combed through toppled buildings Wednesday to reach victims of an earthquake that killed at least 37 people and injured hundreds more in the north-eastern parts of Pakistan.Authorities were still assessing the quake’s impact in villages around Mirpur in Azad Kashmir, but in some the immediate damage was evident. After a night of heavy rain compounded the misery of survivors, hundreds gathered to attend the funerals of residents killed near Mirpur.“It was like doomsday for us. We lost a number of our near and dear ones,” Muhammad Azam told AFP at a funeral for a neighbour. “Our loved ones will never come back.”The 5.2 magnitude quake was not as strong as several that have struck Pakistan over the years, but the epicentre was very shallow — which generally causes more damage. Near Mirpur, a well-developed city known for its palatial residences, many roads were destroyed, while bridges, mobile phone towers and electricity poles were also badly damaged.The village of Jatlan on the outskirts of Mirpur appeared to be one of the worst affected. There, residents sifted through debris and assessed the damage, with large cracks defacing walls in the houses that still stood, and brick fences reduced to rubble. “I lost everything,” said Abdullah Khan, whose three-bedroom home was flattened.Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider ordered a complete damage assessment and strategy for rehabilitation and recommendations within a fortnight. According to the AJK interior ministry, a preliminary report of the damage, rescue and relief efforts has been presented to Haider.The Pakistan Army continued to lead search and rescue operations, and the death toll continued to rise as authorities reached more remote villages to assess the damage. Muhammad Tayyab Chaudhry, the top local official, said at least 37 people had been killed — 33 in Mirpur and four in the neigbouring district of Bhimber.Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa also visited the earthquake affected areas and ongoing damage repair efforts at Jatlan Canal Road. “Normalcy be restored with speed rendering full assistance to civil administration and taking best possible care of the affected population,” Gen Bajwa was quoted as saying by Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor.Earlier, Lt-Gen Mohammad Afzal of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said one person had also been killed in the nearby Punjabi city of Jhelum. “Some 350 people were wounded, 80 of them critically,” he told a press conference.Teams of doctors had arrived in the area, while the NDMA had also sent hundreds of tents, bottles of water and food rations. Afzal said hundreds of houses had been damaged — 136 of them “completely” — while nine miles of road were “badly affected”. Engineers were rushing to make repairs.He said the ambassadors of three countries had offered assistance, but that Pakistani authorities had the matter under control.Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan gave a higher injury toll of 500, and told reporters that survivors would be offered compensation.Overnight showers turned already-damaged roads into muddy thoroughfares where livestock roamed freely. In Mirpur, however, life was quickly returning to normal and most of the well-built structures in the city showed little sign of damage.After the quake, local hospitals in the city swelled, however, with many patients suffering from multiple fractures. “I was going to see a friend when the entire area shook with a bang and a huge wall crumbled over me,” Ali Badshah, a student, told AFP from a hospital in Mirpur where he was being treated for a broken leg.Pakistani geologists faulted the “poor construction of shanty houses in Jatlan” for some of the damage, as well as its location near a fault line and the shallowness of the quake. “The building code is not followed in most areas,” said Pakistan’s chief meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/oXyBAzEUm5s

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