Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers deployed for relief effort as official says morethan 3,000 homes were destroyed and 19,000 are without shelterThousands of people are homeless and desperate for aid in south-westernPakistanfollowing a deadly earthquake in neighbouringIrantoppled scores of mud brick homes and killed at least 36 people, officials said on Wednesday.
The Pakistani army has deployed several hundred soldiers to help the relief effort in Mashkel, the area of Baluchistan province hit hardest by Tuesday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake. At least 35 people were killed and 150 injured in Pakistan, according to Pakistan's national disaster management authority. Iran's main state TV channel said on Wednesday that only one person was killed in Iran a woman who was struck by falling rocks while she was collecting herbs and that 12 people were injured.
An estimated 700 houses were reported damaged in Mashkel in Pakistan, and more remote areas were being assessed, the disaster management agency said.
But Syed Mureed Shah, one of the top officials in surrounding Washak district, told AP by telephone that the damage was more widespread. He said more than 3,000 homes were destroyed in the district, leaving about 19,000 people without shelter. He complained that he had only received about 60 tents from the provincial government. "I appeal to the government. I appeal to the international community to help us with food, medicine, tents and blankets," he said.
People in Mashkel sat under makeshift shelters or sought shade under palm trees amid the rubble of their mud brick homes. A dead horse lay amid the debris of one house. An air conditioning unit stuck out of rubble from another. Several children lying on beds in a makeshift clinic received medicine or fluids intravenously.
More than 300 Pakistani soldiers, including doctors and engineers, were helping with the relief effort by distributing food, medicine and blankets, the army said. They also set up a field hospital to provide medical aid. Five army helicopters were participating in the operation, the army said.
The helicopters flew 15 critically injured people to Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, for treatment, the disaster management agency said. Five more critically injured people are awaiting evacuation from Mashkel, which is expected on Wednesday, the agency said.
The provision of additional supplies was hampered on Wednesday by a sandstorm that prevented helicopters from landing in Mashkel, the agency said. The Baluchistan government also dispatched 20 trucks carrying tents, lamps, food and water that are expected to reach Mashkel by Thursday morning at the latest.
Iranian state TV showed brief images of a village house toppled in the earthquake zone, but scenes from bigger towns showed little damage. It gave no details on rescue work or plans to open the area to international media.
Residents in Mashkel said most people were able to remove their belongings pots, pans, carpets, blankets and pillows from their homes before they collapsed into piles of rubble. They said they don't know of anyone still buried under debris in the area.
By The Guardian
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