Deadly memories: 2005 quake comes back to haunt AJK

Fearful residents stayed outdoors long after earth stopped shaking

MUZAFFARABAD: Nightmares of the 2005 earthquake were revived as Monday’s quake resulted in the deaths of at least two people and injuries to seven others in different areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

While Monday’s powerful earthquake took place a few hundred kilometres from Muzaffarabad, officials said the temblor was strongly felt in the valley with people evacuating their offices and homes to escape any potential building collapse. Most did not go back till at least an hour after the earth stopped shaking.

Police said three brothers were buried in rubble when a wall collapsed in Shamsabad Colony of Islamgarh in Mirpur. Rizwan, a grade 10 student, died on the spot while his brothers Imran and Sufyan received head injuries. They were rushed to the Mirpur District Hospital for treatment.

Doctors described Sufyan’s condition as critical and referred him to Rawalpindi for further treatment.

Saima Arshad, 13, died when she slipped and fell in Cham village, Chanari.

In Sirsali Sacha Patikha, Jameela and her uncle Wali Muhamamd were injured when the roof of their house caved in. The District Headquarters Hospital in Bagh said they had treated three men for injuries they suffered during the earthquake.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2015.