2 kids pulled from rubble

2005-10-10 09:36

Balakot - A young boy and girl were pulled alive from the rubble in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, two days after a massive earthquake brought their school crashing down, said an AFP photographer.

Volunteers and relatives of hundreds of parents at the Shaheen Public School in the devastated town of Balakot helped to get the two children out of the debris, the AFP photographer said on the scene.

People recited verses from the Muslim holy book the Koran as the two were dug out from the rubble and cried Allahu-Akbar (God is great), witnesses said.

The six-year-old boy, who had swelling on his face, was found in the remains of the school's first floor gallery of the school.

The girl, 4, had some injuries on her face, witnesses said. Residents have said up to 400 boys and girls were trapped in the school when it was toppled by the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck at 08:50 on Saturday.

People gathered at the site to help in the rescue effort said they had heard the voices of a few girls who were still trapped under the debris. "We hope to recover them and others alive," a volunteer said.

No rescue workers apart from a few from a private charity have reached the town of 30 000 and people have been digging at the wreckage to find their children.

In Balakot, two schools and an Islamic madrassa, or seminary, were toppled, with nearly 1 000 students thought to be buried in total.

- AFP