Quake kills hundreds in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan  08.10.2005 SLAMABAD, Pakistan and SRINAGAR, India — A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake reduced villages to rubble in the region of Kashmir on Saturday, killing at least 175 people and injuring hundreds more in India, while raising fears in Pakistan of up to 1,000 deaths. Army officials from Pakistan described the damage as widespread and said it included villages buried in quake-induced landslides. An official from India's government said 157 people and 18 soldiers died in the areas of Jammu and Kashmir and warned the final death toll could rise much higher as reports come in from isolated areas. Vijay Bakaya, Jammu-Kashmir state's chief secretary, said at least 600 people were injured when houses and buildings collapsed across Jammu-Kashmir. Police and army officials reported at least 300 people wounded in the quake, which had its epicenter across the de facto border in Pakistan where more than 1,000 were feared dead. Pakistan's Geo television quoted Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the Pakistani army's chief spokesman, as saying 1,000 people were feared dead. Pakistani army officials who flew over quake-hit areas reported seeing hundreds of devastated homes in villages directly north of the capital Islamabad. "The damage and casualties could be massive and it is a national tragedy," Sultan told The Associated Press. "The is the worst earthquake in recent times." The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website the quake hit at 8:50 a.m. local time and had a magnitude of 7.6. It was centered about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad in the forested mountains of Pakistani Kashmir. The quake was also felt in Afghanistan. "These are the current reports of casualties. The figure may rise as details come in about damaged houses and the numbers (of dead) could go up," he said. An Indian army spokesman told AFP that 15 of that country's soldiers died along the border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan. He said some of the army's forward posts caved in, while others were hit by falling trees and landslides. "There can be more casualties," he added. One soldier also died under rubble at a camp in southern Poonch district, the army said. One of the civilian victims was an eight-month old Muslim boy who was buried when a wall of a house collapsed in Srinagar, residents said. Doctors at Srinagar's main hospital said more than 200 people were admitted with injuries and shock after the quake rattled the revolt-hit region. The Indian army spokesman said more than 100 people were being treated at an army hospital in northern Uri town alone. An AFP photographer saw some half-a-dozen houses damaged by the tremors in northern Baramulla town where ambulances were ferrying the injured to hospital. In Sopore town, also in the north of Kashmir, at least a dozen injured people were treated in hospital, another AFP photographer reported. Some people said they had been hurt jumping out of their homes. Police reported more than 100 houses and buildings were damaged in the initial jolt, and roads to northern border areas were blocked by landslides triggered by the tremors. The quake toppled a 10-story apartment building in Islamabad and dozens of people were feared trapped in the rubble. Rescuers pulled out at least 20 injured people. Some residents were Westerners, a building employee said. A man named Rehmatullah who lived nearby said he saw dust from the buckled building from his bathroom window. "I rushed down, and for some time you could not see anything because of the dust. Then we began to look for people in the rubble," said Rehmatullah, who only gave one name. "We pulled out one man by cutting off his legs." "It was like hell," said Nauman Ali, who lived in a nearby top-floor apartment. "It was terrible. I was tossed up in my bed and the ceiling fan struck against the roof." Aided by two large cranes, hundreds of police and soldiers helped remove chunks of concrete. A concrete slab was splattered with blood. One rescue worker said he initially heard faint cries from people trapped in the rubble. << | >> |
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