WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-10-30 Time: 17:00:10 Posted By: Jan
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
Wam, Pakistan – About 175 people were killed when a powerful earthquake hit the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan on Wednesday, flattening about 1 500 mud-walled homes and triggering landslides, officials said.
The epicentre of Wednesday’s quake was in Ziarat district, a scenic valley and a main tourist spot in Baluchistan.
Chief district administrator Dilawar Khan said 170 people had been killed in that district and 350 injured.
| ‘I don’t know who’s survived and who’s died’ |
“The rescue operation is over. We’ve retrieved all bodies and the injured. Now the problem is relief as there’s a shortage of tents, blankets and food while the weather is getting cold,” Khan said.
The US Geological Survey said the 6.4 magnitude quake struck 60km northeast of the provincial capital, Quetta.
Pakistan’s meteorological department put the magnitude at 6.5. About 20 aftershocks caused more damage as families scoured the rubble for loved ones.
“The village has been flattened. You can’t see a house still standing. There’s destruction everywhere,” said Abdul Rahim Ziyawal, a rescue worker here, one of the worst-hit villages where authorities were using excavators to dig mass graves.
Pakistan is no stranger to natural disasters. In October 2005, about 73 000 people were killed when a 7.6 magnitude quake hit northern mountains. Last year, the worst floods on record in Baluchistan killed hundreds.
Khan said most people in the hilly Ziarat district, which has a population of about 50 000, were sleeping outside, either because their homes were destroyed or damaged, or because aftershocks left them too scared to sleep inside.
The quake triggered landslides that destroyed some houses and blocked roads, complicating search and relief operations.
The army had sent helicopters and a medical team, and paramilitary troops had joined the search for survivors.
The International Committee of the Red Cross sent two teams to the area.
Another five people were killed in neighbouring Pishin district, district government officials said.
The World Health Organisation said it was sending two truckloads of essential medicines and supplies for 50 000 people for three months to Ziarat and Pishin.
In Wam, villager Mohammad Aleem said his two brothers and a sister-in-law had been killed and he was looking for other relatives.
“I don’t know who’s survived and who’s died. I’m still searching,” Aleem said.
The head of a national disaster management team, Farooq Ahmed Khan, said about 300 rescue workers had reached Ziarat.