Some still unreachable in Pakistan quake aftermath

World Today

Pakistan quake aftermathPakistan quake aftermath

The Pakistani government was under pressure to get relief supplies to those affected by Monday’s earthquake, but many remained unreachable.

As the dust from Monday’s earthquake begins to settle, the death toll has been rising and the wounded continue to arrive from remote areas of the north. The Pakistan army has played a significant role, leading the search and rescue mission.

“The army always comes to our rescue. They came to help us during floods and their helicopters came this time and provided us with food and relief goods and medicine,” said Shair Hawan, a victim of the earthquake.

But many in the remotely populated north-western mountainous region remained stranded, looking towards the government hoping for immediate assistance. Roads leading to these scattered populations were in poor condition, infrastructure and service delivery were barely present.

“Shangla is an area which was experiencing heavy rains before this particular earthquake. Weather conditions are very harsh because we are experiencing early winter so we are in dire need of tents and blankets,” said Saadat Hussain, an officer of Shangla District Coordination.

CCTV’s Danial Khan reports from Islamabad.