Field Updates
Note: This page is no longer updated. For details on Muslim Hands earthquake relief work see here.
The newest entries appear at the top with older updates further down.
Muhammad Rahim Ullah of the Muslim Hands Peshawar office has sent through the following pictures showing the effects of the earthquake in Balakot and Mansehra:
Muzzaffarabad
A camp of 200 tents (each with a capacity of 6-16 people) is up and running in Chala near the centre of
Muzzaffarabad. The camp is also providing blankets, hot meals and sanitation. We also now have a team of
four doctors from Doctors Worldwide and an ambulance operating in the area.
MH's medical centre, IT centre and disabled persons rehabilitation centre in the city are all destroyed. The MH school in Muzzaffarabad suffered damaged but is still standing. Fortunately none of the children or teachers were hurt.
Operations are being lead by MH's Javid Gilani and Zia Un Noor.
Mansehra
Tents and blankets are being distributed by the Peshawar office and an ambulance service is running.
Operations are being lead by Muhammad Rahim Ullah.
Rawalakot
Similar to Muzzaffarabad, a camp has been established providing shelter, food and basic medicine. Fuel
has been sourced and three ambulances with fifteen crew members are operating in the area.
Muslim Hands' technical training centre and medical dispensary at Titrinote have both been destroyed.
Operations are being lead by Malik Naim.
Balakot
Two ambulances have been helping with relocating and removing bodies and ferrying
injured persons to Peshawar. A 200-tent camp is also being established.
A further team of doctors from the UK and Germany have arrived and are travelling with MH teams to affected areas to help local medical staff.
Many of our donors are understandably concerned and are asking about sponsored orphans and children in earthquake affected areas. Our current information is as follows:
Six schools in the Kotli area are intact and there are no reports of casualties. MH schools around Peshawar are also unaffected and there are no reports of casualties. We have 2 schools in Leepa valley and 1 in Muzaffarabad that our teams are trying to contact but whose status is unknown at present. We will post an update as soon as contact is made.
A medical team from Doctors Worldwide Germany has arrived in Islamabad and is travelling with an MH team to the Kashmir region to carry out work with us there.
MH Pakistan are also drawing up plans for two camps in Kashmir to cater for 5,000 people each and provide: cooked food, shelter, medical facilities and sanitation.
The road between Islamabad and Muzzaffarabad is now open but only small vehicles are able to enter the city. Muslim Hands convoys laden with family tents, plastic water proof sheets and blankets have left Islamabad for Muzzaffarabad. It is anticipated that the convoys will arrive on Monday morning. We anticipate also that cooked food will be distributed regularly in camps from Monday onwards.
The MH Peshawar office will be concentrating its efforts in Mansehra, distributing tents, water proof sheets and other aid. The Kotli office is coordinating work in Rawalakot and Bagh, where medicines and an ambulance service are being provided.
Over 40 staff and scores of volunteers are involved in the relief operation. Many are facing horrific scenes:
"I have worked in many disaster zones, such as after the Bam Earthquake and the famine in Balochistan, but I have never seen such complete & utter destruction and devastation."
Hanif Hijazi, MH Islamabad
Late last night Muslim Hands Islamabad purchased 1,000 tents to be sent to the Muzzaffarabad region. Alhamdulillah, transport by helicopter has also been secured and the tents will be taken in at first light.
Aid teams are now established and operating in the following areas: Muzzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Islamabad and areas of NWFP.
Iftikhar Inqalabi from MH Pakistan is in Rawalakot and tells us the provision of assistance has begun. To help those left homeless, MH educational colleges in the area are being used to provide temporary accommodation. By gathering people together it will also be much easier to provide medical and other assistance in the coming days.
Nadeem Tahir of the Islamabad MH office tells us:
The situation is much, much worse than people imagine, especially in Muzzaffarabad. The city has lost its main hospitals and many of the medical staff have died also.
There is very little organised rescue work at the moment as both of the two main roads entering the city have been totally blocked and no equipment or supplies can get in.
One of our volunteers in the city has lost all his family except for his wife.
Muslim Hands has an office in Muzzaffarabad and people inside the city. If we can get aid into them they can begin distribution immediately.
Tariq Nasir, Projects Manager reports:
We have instructed our Pakistan central office to initiate emergency relief work immediately and teams have been dispatched. First reports indicate that Muzzaffarabad in Pakistan Administered Kashmir is worst hit by this earthquake. The North West Frontier Province region and Afghanistan have also been affected considerably, though the full extent of damage and casualties is not yet known. The area of India Administered Kashmir has also suffered and needs are being assessed.
Our teams are travelling from the Peshawar office towards other areas in NWFP to assess the situation whilst teams from Quetta, Islamabad and Punjab are travelling towards Muzaffarabad. The road between Islamabad and Muzaffarabad has been badly affected but attempts are being made by our team of experienced relief workers and volunteers to reach the area.
Muslim Hands has an excellent medical centre in Muzaffarabad and another in Hatyan Bala, a free medical dispensary in Rawalakot as well as ambulance service in Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad. We are hopeful these facilities will be operational still but cannot yet confirm this.
There is more sad news for the MH Pakistan Team: two of our colleagues, Sabir Termizi (General Secretary of MH Pakistan) and Javid Gillani (Head of Education) have both lost family members in the earthquake.
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