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Asian quake death toll at least 20,000
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-09 21:30
The quake was felt across a wide swath of South Asia from central Afghanistan
to western Bangladesh. It swayed buildings in the capitals of three nations,
with the damage spanning at least 250 miles from Jalalabad in Afghanistan to
Srinagar in northern Indian territory. In Islamabad, a 10-story building
collapsed.
"We are handling the worst disaster in Pakistan's history," chief army
spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.
Officials said Balakot was one of the hardest-hit areas. Near the ruins of
one collapsed school, at least a dozen bodies were strewn on the streets of the
devastated village of about 30,000. At least 250 pupils were feared trapped
inside the rubble of the four-story school.
Dozens of villagers, some with sledgehammers but many without tools, pulled
at the debris and carried away bodies. Faizan Farooq, a 19-year-old business
administration student, said he had heard children under the rubble crying for
help immediately after Saturday's disaster.
"Now there's no sign of life," he said Sunday. "We can't do this without the
army's help. Nobody has come here to help us."
Helicopters and C-130 transport planes took troops and supplies to damaged
areas Sunday. However, landslides and rain hindered rescue efforts, blocking
roads to some remote areas.
There was no sign of government help in Balakot, in the
North West Frontier Province about 60 miles north of Islamabad. The quake
leveled the village's main bazaar, crushing shoppers and strewing gas cylinders,
bricks, tomatoes and onions on the streets.
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