Details trickle in: Quake flattens 80% of Mashkhel; 5,000 affected

Remote location hampers relief, rescue operations.

QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD:

The devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that originated in southeast Iran on Tuesday has wreaked havoc in Balochistan’s remote area of Mashkhel, flattening nearly 80% of the region.

On Tuesday, local officials put the death toll at 40, but a day later residents told The Express Tribune that at least 80 people were killed.

Efforts to help the survivors have been hampered by the remote location of Mashkhel as communities are scattered. There are no proper medical facilities and infrastructure is non-existent.

Esa Tahir, a local coordinator for the Islamic Relief charity said that after surveying two union councils, 5,000 people have been found to be affected.

Around 2,000 mud-houses have been damaged or destroyed there, along with 150 shops. At least five government buildings, including administrative and revenue offices, a school and a hospital, were also damaged.

Eight injured people, including four young children from the same family, were waiting for a helicopter to fly them to Quetta. A helicopter came but could not land due to a dust storm, a military officer said, adding that they would be evacuated on Thursday.

Some 15-20 people made a 45-minute journey on foot to the Iranian border to reach a hospital and see a doctor, according to officials of the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Local journalist Shah Nazar Badini said that officials were downplaying the casualty figures and the widespread death and destruction in the entire Washuk district bordering Iran.

FC, army conduct relief operation

According to Army and FC officials, initial assessments indicated that almost half of the population of Mashkhel was affected by the temblor earthquake.

A military official said it had a total population of around 15,000 and roughly 45% of the houses were damaged. “The death toll is estimated at more than 40, including women and children,” said Major Attiq Minhas of the FC.

According to initial assessments of the damage prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), some 700 houses had been completely destroyed. Some buildings in Panjgur were partially damaged, but no loss of life was reported from there. Details from far-flung areas were still being collected.

Some 105 injured people were being treated in several hospitals of Balochistan while 15 critically injured people who were initially flown by helicopters to Sheikh Hospital in Dalbandin had reached the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta, says a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Around 160 FC troops, a doctor and paramedics were available in the area to provide support to the civil administration. Additional troops also reached the area along with essential relief items, including 800kg of flour, 200kg of cooking oil, 400kg of rice, 100 blankets and 60 cartons of milk packs.

Two helicopters carrying 5 tonnes of medicines, dry rations and tents were flown at night to Mashkhel.

Caretaker Chief Minister Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh Barozi said that all available resources would be utilized to assist the affected people and his administration would help rebuild the houses destroyed by the earthquake.

Talking to a delegation of elders from Maskhel on Wednesday, Barozai said his administration would not leave the affected people in this time of adversity. He added that he was personally supervising the coordinated relief operation is underway in the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.