Death toll from quake climbs to 38 as relief operations continue – Pakistan

The death toll from yesterday's devastating earthquake in southern Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) increased to 38, with the largest number of victims belonging to the Mirpur district, a status report published by the National Authority reported on Wednesday. Disaster Management (NDMA).

Other victims belonged to the districts of Bhimber and Jhelum.

The survey teams, constituted by the administration, continued to review the affected areas, according to Mirpur's division commissioner, Chaudhry Muhammad Tayyab.

Fayyaz Ali Abbasi, a senior member of the Board of Revenue, has been stationed in Mirpur for the next two weeks to "support / supervise rescue, relief and rehabilitation activities" by AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, according to a notification issued by the section officer Mohammad Gulzar. .

"I have called a meeting of the chiefs of police and administration in Mirpur to assess the situation in order to expedite relief activities," said Abbasi Dawn.

Earlier, Mirpur district deputy commissioner Qaiser Aurangzeb had said 26 people had died while more than 500 were being treated for injuries.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), however, had calculated the death toll at 25, of which 11 were killed in Mirpur and Afzalpur each. Islamgarh, Mangla and Jhelum suffered a casualty each, said an update published by the authority today. The number of people injured, according to NDMA, is 459.

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake was felt by residents of the federal capital and several other cities, but most of its worst part was suffered by the northern areas, especially the city of Mirad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The tremors lasted 8 to 10 seconds and felt strongly. DawnNewsTV I had informed.

A bridge connecting Bhimber and Mirpur, as well as the Munda bridge, located in the first, were also damaged along with the Jatlan road.

The NDMA update also said that the supply of electricity to the districts of Kotli and Mirpur has been restored. In detailing the relief efforts carried out by the authority, NDMA revealed that more than 200 tents, 800 blankets and 200 kitchen sets, tarpaulins and first aid kits have been sent to the affected areas.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority sent about 20 ambulances, six rescue vehicles and 110 rescue teams, while the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) sent nine doctors, three paramedics and ambulances, as well as 200 basic medicines to save lives and surgical kits.

Four police officers and five paramedics are waiting in Polyclinic, as are 100 beds in the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the Capital Development Authority Hospital (CDA) and the Federal General Hospital (FG).

Army chief visits AJK

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today visited the areas affected by the AJK earthquake and examined ongoing efforts to repair the damage on Jatlan Canal Road, according to a tweet from the military media wing.

"Normality will be restored quickly, providing full assistance to the civil administration and taking the best care of the affected population," said the army chief.

Destruction and loss

The shallow earthquake, which occurred just after 4 p.m. and whose epicenter was near Mirpur, destroyed roads and demolished buildings.

On Wednesday, schools were closed near Mirpur, where poor areas were reduced to rubble and the imposing brick fences surrounding expensive houses had collapsed. The city is known for its palatial houses and has strong ties with Britain, with the majority of its 450,000 residents carrying British and Pakistani passports.

Residents checked the remains and assessed the damage inflicted on their homes, with large cracks that disfigured the walls of the houses that were still standing. Many people in the area slept outdoors during the night.

“I lost my house. I lost everything, "said Abdullah Khan, whose three-bedroom house in the village of Jatlan, on the outskirts of Mirpur, was razed by the earthquake.

“I was going to see a friend when the whole area shook hard and a huge wall collapsed on me. When I regained consciousness I found myself here in this bed, "said Ali Badshah, a fifth-grade student. AFP from a hospital in Mirpur where he was being treated for a broken leg.

Near Mirpur, the roads were completely destroyed and the vehicles overturned by tremors, while the bridges, mobile phone towers and power poles also suffered serious damage in close combat.

"The situation is slowly returning to normal, the level of panic is now lower among people, although a replica was felt at night," said Sardar Gulfaraz Khan, a deputy inspector general of the police. Most of the damage occurred in the villages where the old houses collapsed, Khan said.

Relief efforts were hampered due to the rain, which continued to flood the area. Night showers turned already damaged roads into muddy roads where cattle roamed freely.

But rescue operations continued overnight in the area while local hospitals grew with many patients suffering multiple fractures. Troops and other lifeguards carried out rescue work, with engineers who began repairs on a key road that was severely damaged, the army media wing said.

NDMA Lieutenant General Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal said the road would open Thursday night.

The earthquake sent people in Lahore and Islamabad to the streets, while the tremors were also felt to New Delhi.

Pakistan extends to both sides of the border where the tectonic plates of India and Eurasia meet, which makes the country susceptible to earthquakes.

The country was also hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on October 8, 2005, which killed more than 73,000 people and left some 3.5 million people homeless, mainly in AJK.