IRC staff members responding to the earthquake disaster in Pakistan have been in constant contact with colleagues to update them on the situation and direct aid where it is most needed.
They provided the following snapshot of the overall situation in the province:
- Access to all areas is not possible by road. Bigger towns are getting some assistance and little information is available about small and remote villages
- Working conditions are getting increasingly difficult due to decomposing bodies caught in the rubble
- Survivors are traumatized and frightened and they don't want to leave the site of collapsed homes where family members are trapped
- People are desperate and some try to stop vehicles carrying any food items to take the food
- Security is generally good but the patience of these devastated people is thinning out
- Aftershocks are still felt in the area, causing panic
- People are scared to go into houses and they are spending nights in open fields.
- Temperatures are cool and getting colder with each passing day
Here are their latest reports from two particularly hard-hit locations:
Balakot, Manshera District
Balakot is a busy market town with hotels and grocery shops, but it appears that 99% of the buildings have been destroyed. Our team saw only 5-8 houses intact. Two schools, a police station and government offices were entirely flattened. According to the survivors, approximately 40,000 people are still trapped under debris after 48 hours. Only 50 dead bodies have been recovered from a two-story school building that collapsed with 700 children inside. The remaining are still under rubble.
Bodies recovered from the debris are lying in open fields and roads, as there are not enough resources to bury them. Moreover, the dead cannot be identified as entire families have perished.
There are big cracks in roads and the communication routes are frequently blocked and cleared throughout the day as landslides are occurring frequently.
There is no electricity, water, food or shelter, and phone lines are not properly working. Army helicopters are busy evacuating wounded.
Needs:
- Excavation equipment and other machinery to recover trapped people
- Winterized tents
- Blankets
- Warm clothing
- Food and water
- Cloth and coffins for burying the dead
- Medicine
- Abdul Haseeb and Ilyas Khan
Batagram, Batagram District
About 90% of the town's entire infrastructure including houses, schools, hospitals and government institutions is completely damaged.
According to survivors, 3,000 people are still buried under the collapsed structures and debris. About 30 dead bodies have been recovered so far. Batagram Hospital is 85% collapsed; the remaining portion has cracks and is not safe for any kind of medical treatment. The operating room is damaged and there is an immediate need for a mobile operating theater. An open field close to the hospital is being used as a makeshift hospital with patients under open skies because only 12 tents are available. Army helicopters are evacuating the seriously wounded to Abbottabad.
There is no power supply in the area. Water supply systems are disrupted.
The nearby town of Allai is cut off due to landslides and is feared to be severely affected. At least ten nearby villages are also severely affected.
Immediate Needs:
- Excavation machinery to recover trapped people
- Tents
- Blankets
- Medicine
- Water and dried food
- Suleman Khan, Niaz Mohammad and Fayaz Ali