Catastrophe in Pakistan as tremors rip thru Country
—Kashmir region, Frontier province strongly hit m Islamabad jolted badly
—Most parts of the country affected
—Over three thousand feared dead, millions gone homeless across country
—President, Premier shocked, grieved
—President orders provinces to mobilize all resources for rescue
—China, UK offer immediate help, assistance
By Makhdoom Babar, Uzma Zafar,
Zulfiqar Ahmad and Saad Saud Zubair

ISLAMABAD—They were severe, they were strong and they were really shocking and jolting, bring along a complete catastrophe from Islamabad to Kashmir and from Mansehra to Lahore as they — the Tremors hit Pakistan at 8:52 in the morning on Saturday when most the people were sleeping in the beds in major cities including Islamabad.
The tremor that hit first was measured 7.6 on the Richter scale with its center being some 95 kilometers north of Islamabad. This Tremor, which kept shocking and jolting not only the buildings, but also the nerves of the people for about constant 3 to 4 minutes. This was not enough as this tremor was followed by many others, but they were much milder than the first one and it continued to happen every now and then till the filing of this report. Metrological office terms these Tremors as 'After Shocks' and say they would continue to come for the next 48 hours.
In Islamabad, the earthquake though hit many buildings and jolted them as the building where The Daily Mail's offices are located was also affected, yet the main catastrophe occurred on the unfortunate residents of an high-rise luxury apartments' compound, known as Margalla Towers, in sector F-10. Two of the lofty ten story towers of this compound were erased in less than one minute while the inmates could not get any time to out. There were some 40 to 50 luxury apartments in these 2 towers, having a population of nearly 250. Police and other rescue teams arrived at the site within 30 to 40 minutes and launched the Rescue operation. They were later joined by volunteers and rescue teams of the Armed Forces of Pakistan and civil administration. Federal Interior Minister also reached the spot in a very short time and personally monitored the rescue operation. Since the heavy machines could not be used to avoid any damage to the debris, the rescuers were having multifaceted problems in accessing the trapped victims. The multifaceted problems of the rescuers included unavailability of proper tools; unavailability of flashlights, impossibility of using heavy machines and above all the hail and thunderstorm that hit Islamabad at around 10:30 in the night completely hampered the rescue operation and added to the miseries of the trapped victims and the rescuers. However they could manage to retrieve some hundred people from the debris till the filing of this report, out of which some 30 to 35 were either dead or succumbed to the injuries at the hospitals.
An emergency had been declared at all the hospitals including the Ploy Clinic and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Ministry of health had also established a mobile hospital in front of the rescue site. President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shuakat Aziz together visited the effected area and monitored the rescue operation. They expressed their satisfaction over the rescue operation and hailed the efforts of the rescuers.
The tremors where caused a great panic amongst the general public there they also united them as a great scene of unity was witnessed at the rescue site where volunteers formed a human chain to participate in rescue work. Though they were fasting, yet they continue to move massive rocks and huge concrete blocks. However some 100 to 150 people were still feared to be under the debris. It is not known as to how many of them were alive and how many dead already. Many of them were though heard screaming for help and their screams were dimming down with every passing moment, with their deer and near ones making all out efforts to rescue them.
On the other hand, people, soon after the first Tremor hit the city, people came out of their homes and offices. They kept reciting verses from Holy Quran and Kalma Tayyaba. The repeated jolts of the Tremors, kept many of them out in the open places till late night. Those living in high-rise, multistory buildings vacated their houses on official instructions for at least next 48 hours.
Our Correspondent adds from Muzaffarabad: In posh Azad Kashmir capital Muzaffarabad as many as 1000 people are dead and over 4000 buried alive in the debris on Saturday when high intensity tremors jolted parts of Pakistan and AJK on Saturday.
Heavy rains created hurdles in carrying out relief activities while most of dead could not be buried due to heavy rain that continued lashing out parts of Azad Kashmir in general and particulars of Muzaffarabad.
Heavy intensity earthquake left completely collapsed Aiwan-e-Wazir-e-Azam, Secretariat, parts of central city, CMH, Radio Colony, old campus of university and at least 75 buildings in close vicinity of Chehla Bandi were bowed down.
It is learnt that 1000 corpses were taken out of debris while 4000 people were still trapped in the wreckage.
The building of Nirol Girls High School left 200 children dead followed by collapsed of Rizwan Public School in which as many as 300 children were entrapped and efforts were on to retrieve the children from debris.
Tension and fear gripped the area and people came out of homes and were laying on open grounds.
Our Correspondent adds from Abbottabad: In the ever worst earthquake in the history of Hazara division that played havoc in the vast areas amid the reports that several villages have been leveled to the ground and wiped out from the map in the face of bloody jolts and over a thousand people are feared dead.
First tremor shook the area at 8.50 early in the morning and its intensity was so immense that hundreds of people were buried alive under the debris of collapsing buildings. The after shocks continued to hit after every half an hour. The worst hit were the schools wherein scores of children were killed when the buildings collapsed. All the men and women went out side their homes for fear of after shocks and they continued reciting the Holy Quran.
A majority of people spent the whole day long in the open air against the consecutive jerks and tremors.
Police and army came in aid for the affectees late. However the local population continued rescue operations and pulled out many people from beneath the debris. The injured were in large number that Ayub Teaching Hospital could not accommodate them. The injured were kept in parking areas and in the open air. Due to shortage of medicines they could not get proper treatment.
Dozens of houses, commercial banks, Chen One shopping plaza, Best Western Hotel, Peshawar High Court Building, Abdul Razzaq Plaza and Ayub Medical Complex were the worst hit areas. The villages including Dhamtore, Nawan Shehar, Bandi Phullan, Mir pur, Molia, Walola, Batangi and Silhat were also severely affected.
Hundreds of casualties have been confirmed in the areas of Oogi, Baffa, Shankiari, Garhi Habib Ullah in Mansehra.
Governor NWFP also visited the calamity hit areas and he paid one Lakh rupees for Iftar arrangement of injured and their family members in Ayub Medical complex.
Online adds: A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake in different areas of Pakistan Saturday reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and flattened an apartment building in federal metropolis, killing thousands of people in the country.
President General Pervez Musharraf called the devastation “a national tragedy”.
The Pakistan government said that over 1,000 people may have been killed in devastating earthquake.
“We have received reports that several villages have disappeared and over 1,000 people have died,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told reporters here in Islamabad.
However, reports from Muzaffarabad confirmed that as many as 1000 people have died and over 4000 have been trapped in the debris.
Heavy rains created hurdles in carrying out relief activities while most of dead could not be buried due to heavy rain that continued lashing out parts of Azad Kashmir in general and particulars of Muzaffarabad.
Heavy intensity earthquake left completely collapsed Aiwan-e-Wazir-e-Azam, Secretariat, parts of central city, CMH, Radio Colony, old campus of university and at least 75 buildings in close vicinity of Chehla Bandi were bowed down.
Online learnt that 1000 corpses were taken out of debris while 4000 people were still trapped in the wreckage.
The building of Nirol Girls High School left 200 children dead followed by collapsed of Rizwan Public School in which as many as 300 children were entrapped and efforts were on to retrieve the children from debris.
In the ever worst earthquake in the history of Hazara division that played havoc in the vast areas amid the reports that several villages have been leveled to the ground and wiped out from the map in the face of bloody jolts and over a thousand people are feared dead.
First tremor shook the area at 8.50 early in the morning and its intensity was so immense that hundreds of people were buried alive under the debris of collapsing buildings. The after shocks continued to hit after every half an hour. The worst hit were the schools wherein scores of children were killed when the buildings collapsed. All the men and women went out side their homes for fear of after shocks and they continued reciting the Holy Quran.
Dozens of houses, commercial banks, Chen One shopping plaza, Best Western Hotel, Peshawar High Court Building, Abdul Razzaq Plaza and Ayub Medical Complex were the worst hit areas. The villages including Dhamtore, Nawan Shehar, Bandi Phullan, Mir pur, Molia, Walola, Batangi and Silhat were also severely affected.
Hundreds of casualties have been confirmed in the areas of Oogi, Baffa, Shankiari, Garhi Habib Ullah in Mansehra.
Governor NWFP also visited the calamity hit areas and he paid one Lakh rupees for Iftar arrangement of injured and their family members in Ayub Medical complex.
Over 129 people have been killed in the disastrous tremors which jolted Shangla and near by localities terribly early in the morning on Saturday.
Shangla district is the worst affected area in terms of death toll where out of total 129 victims in District Shangla, 73 persons belonged to Basham.
Relief efforts with the coordination of Pakistan Army and local people are under way. Debris of the damaged buildings and houses is being cleared to bring out the dead bodies of the victims.
The injured have been admitted in local hospital for medical treatment.
As per break up of the casualties, 15 died in sub Tehsil, Chaksair, 13 in Alpori, 22 in Basham and 24 in Karora Shapor. A jeep fell into deep ravine amidst deep intensity shocks leaving five persons dead. The victims included Lal Gull, Said Majeed, Taj Majeed, Raheem Taj and a woman, Mahba.
In Alpori, one woman was buried alive after a wall collapsed and in Tehsil Chaksair over 13 people including 3 women and 2 children died in identical incidents of collapsing walls. Four women and two children are reported to have been killed when their houses collapsed being hit in quake.
In Barkhan, a woman and her son died, in Karai, 3 people including wife of local prayer leader were killed, in Nawan Sewar 2 women died and in Damori four members of a family lost lives after their house was razed to ground in severe jerks of quake. Two children and sister of local journalist Shujaat Ali Khan also died in the quake hit area of Basham.
As many as forty dead bodies have been retrieved from the debris of Margalla Towers which fell due to high intensity tremors which brought down 10-story apartment building in Islamabad here on Saturday.
Dozens of people were feared trapped in the rubble. Rescuers also pulled out at least 45 injured people.
Enormous loss to life and property has been caused amid the reports that at least 24 people have been killed, several injured and scores of houses have collapsed after jolts of high intensity quake hit Murree and its surrounding areas in the early hours of Saturday.
Our Beijing Bureau adds: China Earthquake Administration has offered Pakistan search and rescue assistance to help the government cope with the devastation caused by the earthquake.
According to a fax message received here on Saturday from the Embassy of Pakistan, Beijing, the China Earthquake Administration’s International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) has been put on the alert.
The China Earthquake Administration is closely following developments since the beginning of the disaster.
Saira Ilyas adds from London: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Sturday expressed his deep concerns over the devastating earthquake and offered help to Pakistan to deal with the situation.
Jack Straw spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmoud Kasuri to express his sorrow and told him Britain was “ready to respond to all requests”.
“I am very distressed to learn about the effects of the earthquake in Pakistan this morning. My anxieties are all the greater because so many British people of Pakistani heritage come from the area affected or have relatives who live there,” said Straw.
The quake which struck parts of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir on Saturday had resulted in a great loss of life and damage to the property.
“I have already spoken to Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and said Britain stands by during this time of need”.
APP adds: President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who met in Rawalpindi Saturday, issued directives for immediate relief and rescue operations in areas affected by the severe earthquake which jolted several parts of the country and Azad Jammu & Kashmir Saturday morning.
The President and Prime Minister expressed their profound grief over the tragic loss of life and damage to property as a result of the quake, one of the strongest to hit the country in recent years.
They asked the Federal and Provincial Governments to promptly mobilize all resources and speed up recovery activities, provide best medical treatment to the injured and strive to minimize the effects of the earthquake.
Pakistan Army has been directed to extend all-out help to civil population in the quake-hit areas. All civil and military hospitals have been directed to deal with the situation on an emergency basis.
The President and Prime Minister have appealed to the nation to stay calm in the face of the earthquake and have directed the concerned authorities to carry out an immediate assessment of the extent of damage caused by it.