M A I N   N E W S

Help yet to reach needy
Tribune News Service

Uri, October 9
The 60-year old Rasheeda Begum was fending for herself even till today as no one had come forward to help her injured husband to be evacuated for medical assistance to the nearby medical camp, more than 36 hours after the tragedy struck the entire region. Her husband Faiz Mohammad was injured when their house collapsed due to the tremors on Saturday morning. She was hopelessly waiting her son, Mohammad Akram, posted with the Army, somewhere away in the North East.

“My husband (Faiz Mohammad) fell down and is injured due to the earthquake. Ham kis ko bolein, koun sunayga, hamaray marad to haspatal layega”, she said begging for help near the medical camp here organised jointly by the Army and civil administration. The injured old man was being consoled by his six other children helplessly. Mrs Rasheeda said that some of the helpers had reached the spot yesterday looking for the injured, but refused to evacuate her husband saying “Tumhara beta army mein hai, wohi lejayengay”, she said.

A day after the powerful tremors the extent of damage to life and property was explicit as many shops and houses in the Uri town had collapsed. The hutments and dwellings of the poor people were damaged. The belongings of people were still hanging loose from cliffs amid heaps of bricks, stone and wooden structures. The Army hospital here too had collapsed due to the tremors. However, about 100 persons including the patients and medical staff were evacuated without any much harm. But no equipment could be retrieved from the debris, said Dr Col S. Bahaduri.

No food, no shelter for many of the residents of the area was available since the tragedy struck the area on Saturday morning. Many houses in the nearby Salamabad, Uroosa, Sultandhaki, Kamalkote villages have been damaged all along the road to Muzaffarabad across the LoC. A resident, Nasrullah from Nambla village said that all houses in the village had been razed to ground due to the earthquake. He alleged that no medical team or assistance had reached the village till this afternoon. “Every house has been destroyed, however, many people have survived”, said a senior advocate of the area, Abdul Latif Mir. He added that government had failed to provide timely help and assistance. He appreciated the assistance provided by the security forces and demanded the disbursement of relief measures through the security forces.

“Injured persons are still arriving here”, said Dr Col S. Bahaduri of the Army hospital here, while supervising the treatment to injured civilian and Army personnel at the camp. The camp has been jointly organised by the Army and civil administration with six Army doctors and six Civil Hospital doctors. He said that several Army and civil medical teams had been rushed to the far off places, which continue to remain cut off due to the road blockades and high altitude.

At least 250 injured, including 169 civilians and 81 Army personnel had been treated at the medical camp yesterday, while eight persons, including four civilians and four Army personnel were reported brought dead. By the afternoon today at least 302 persons were brought to the camp and provided with medical assistance. They included 97 civilians and 56 Army personnel, while one Army man had died while being brought to the town.