More than 12,000 affected by quake in Pakistan: Official

Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps troops evacuate 23 wounded persons from Mashkhel to Quetta and Dalbandin.

RAWALPINDI/ MASHKHEL: More than 12,000 Pakistanis living in the remote, impoverished desert regions of Balochistan near the Iranian border have been affected by this week's huge earthquake, a relief official said Thursday.

The 7.8-magnitude quake, centred in southeastern Iran on Tuesday was the Islamic republic's most powerful in five decades and killed 41 people - all but one of them were in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, the worst-affected area has been Mashkhel, in Balochistan, where the lack of paved roads, electricity, mobile phone coverage and medical facilities has hampered the rescue effort.

"We have done a rapid survey and found that over 12,000 people have been affected by the quake in Mashkhel," said Mehboob Ali, a district coordinator for the Balochistan Rural Support Programme charity.

He said more than 3,200 homes, made mostly of mud, were either damaged or no longer habitable, forcing people to sleep out in the open or in makeshift shelters for a third night.

The military on Thursday continued to fly in medicine and tents, but more supplies are desperately needed, said local official Syed Mureed Shah.

"There's growing impatience among the people affected by the quake as they are not receiving relief goods," Shah said.

Rauf Jamal Dini, an official with Quetta-based charity Sahar, also called urgently for more supplies, saying neither the military nor government authorities had been seen in areas visited by his aid workers.

"People are making complaints. They are in dire need of relief goods. We are conducting a rapid survey to assess the damage," he said.

But military and civilian officials said they were doing all they could.

Sohail Islam, a district health official, said four doctors and 10 paramedics on the ground had treated around 170 injured people since Wednesday.

"Most of the people have fractures and other injuries to limbs, and most are women and children. The seriously injured have been shifted to Quetta while rest have been sent home," he said.

Captain Shoaib Elahi from the Frontier Corps said troops had treated 85 injured people in Mashkhel, most of them women and children.

"Now they have moved to their houses. We have only two beds in an FC, mud-built health facility and only have two patients in the facility, a woman and an elderly man, whose beds are in open space," he said.

Rescue operation

During their ongoing rescue and relief operation in the earthquake affected areas of Balochistan, Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps troops have evacuated 23 wounded persons from Mashkhel to Quetta and Dalbandin by Army helicopters.

According to an ISPR press release issued on Thursday, 2,800 kgs of food items, 1200 kgs of medicine, 300 blankets and 80 tents have been distributed among the affected so far.

A field medical facility comprising 8 Doctors and 15 paramedics are providing medical treatment to the injured in Mashkhel.

550 troops of Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps personnel have been undertaking rescue operation in earthquake affected areas since April 16, 2013.

President announces financial assistance

Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar announced on Tuesday that victims of the earthquake in Balochistan would receive financial compensation, Radio Pakistan reported.

An amount of Rs500,000 would be given to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the earthquake and Rs100,000 to those who were wounded.