Hundreds of kids 'buried alive'
2005-10-12 08:14
Pakistan - A Dutch team sifting through the debris of a collapsed school in Pakistani Kashmir's Bagh city has abandoned hope of finding any children alive five days after a devastating earthquake shook the region.
The team equipped with sniffer dogs and life-detecting equipment flew into the mountainous region on Monday but so far it has only managed to pull five lifeless bodies from the rubble of Shaheen School.
Hundreds of children, mostly girls, were buried alive when the 7.6-magnitude quake struck northern Pakistan and the Islamabad-administered part of Kashmir on Saturday, killing a total of 23 000.
"It is already more than 72 hours and chances of their survival are fading," Ed Kraszewski, spokesperson for The Netherlands' Urban Search and Rescue mission, told AFP.
'No chance of survivors'
"There is no chance of any survivors in the debris," admitted another team official as distraught parents mourned over bodies lying near the crumpled buildings.
"Almost 60% of the city is wrecked."
All private houses as well as government offices, schools and colleges, police stations and courts have come down. Buildings which are intact are either cracked or partially demolished.
Residents said almost 50% of the local population had fled in search of food and shelter.
"The bodies are still there, waiting for burial. It is a very difficult situation," a local magistrate said.
But as the stench of death engulfed the town, people from surrounding villages continued to dig for relatives.
Bagh, which in Urdu means "garden", has been without food or water for two days and hundreds of locals are now living out in the open, desperate for help.
An AFP correspondent saw people struggling with the police when a relief truck finally arrived.
The Dutch team consists of 62 rescuers and one doctor. Its command centre in Islamabad is coordinating their relief efforts with the United Nations.
The team's arrival brought hope to the town, which lacked doctors and even earth-moving equipment to remove the debris. Soon they had formed a human chain to pick away at the rubble, piece by piece, witnesses said.
"We will work on it till the last but it is up to our command to give another assignment in the affected areas," said Kraszewski.
Two doctors from a government hospital in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital Islamabad, have also arrived with medicine.
Doctor Qaiser Saeed said many of the injured had severe head injuries and their survival was doubtful.
"They need to be shifted immediately to Islamabad or other big cities," he said.
- AFP