Haiti crisis triggers quake nightmare for Pakistan legend

by Abdullah on Jan 14, 2010 Earthquake, Haiti, Pakistan, World News • Comments Closed • Earthquake, Haiti, Pakistan

Aerial view shows the devastated Pakistani town of Balakot which was virtually destroyed by a quake in October, 2005.

Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan has described how the unfolding crisis in Haiti revived harrowing memories of a similar earthquake in his own region.

The devastating 7.6 magnitude quake struck northern Pakistan and the divided Kashmir region in October 2005, claiming the lives of almost 80,000 people, according to official estimates, and leaving millions homeless.

Khan, who is now a prominent politician and campaigner for social issues in Pakistan, told CNN Thursday that he was left numbed by the scenes which greeted him as he traveled to some of the worst-affected areas in the aftermath.

“It was one of the most traumatic experiences I’ve ever had. Just watching human suffering, he said. “It was the children that really disturbed me … their crushed limbs.

“There were so many people needing attention. I remember seeing makeshift hospitals where they were amputating. That was difficult to take.

“Families were torn apart as parents lost their children and children were orphaned. Whole families were caught inside buildings, while few escaped.”

Khan recalled being overwhelmed by the sight of an entire town being reduced to rubble.

“We arrived in the town of Balakot and it was totally flattened. You don’t know what to do or say. So many people needing help at one time and you don’t have the infrastructure, you don’t have the hospitals to help.” (more…)

In Indonesian villages, nearly all residents feared buried in rubble

by Asad on Oct 2, 2009 Indonesia • Comments Closed • Earthquake, Indonesia

PADANG, Indonesia (CNN) — An area that now looks like a flattened mess of destruction was, just days ago, a group of three villages.

Officials believe 90 percent of the residents — as many as a few hundred people — were buried, just one piece of the devastation from two large earthquakes that struck Indonesia in as many days.

The stench of dead bodies fills the air.

At least 1,100 people are dead in the disaster, said John Holmes, United Nations humanitarian chief.

Indonesia’s health ministry and ministry of social affairs said Friday they believe thousands remain buried beneath rubble.

The West Sumatran capital, Padang, with about a million residents, is near the epicenter.

CNN’s Arwa Damon spoke with a few dozen survivors from these villages in the area, most of whom only made it through because they weren’t home during the quake. They remained huddled together in a tent, in shock over what had happened.

One older woman said eight of her family members were buried. She had been buried up to her chest and had to dig herself out.

Another survivor, a 27-year-old man, told CNN four of his family members were killed. His home used to be on top of a cliff in the area. Now, there is only mud.

Search and rescue teams are working with the military, but so far, only 25 bodies have been recovered.

With each passing day, the scope of the devastation grows. (more…)

Muslim World helping Haiti

by sufisahab on Jan 27, 2010 Earthquake, Haiti, Muslims • Comments Closed • Earthquake, Haiti, Islam, Muslims

Fremont, California – Haiti is experiencing unimaginable suffering from its devastating earthquake, with more than 150,000 dead and one to three million individuals displaced.

Individuals, groups and governments from around the world have stepped in to do what they can. United by their religious tradition of charity, Muslims have emerged as effective partners in aid and relief work.

The international effort to aid Haiti by individuals, Islamic relief organisations and the governments of Muslim-majority countries reflects a proactive generosity and empathy espoused by the Prophet Muhammad and the teachings of the Qur’an. Charity, in fact, is one of the five obligations for Muslims, and Muslim organisations have been working alongside other faith-based groups to fulfil this duty.

Islamic Relief, one of the most respected and successful disaster relief charities in the world, has used technology, new media and social networking sites to mobilise people. Along with “Seekers Digest”, a popular Muslim community blog run out of Canada, Islamic Relief hosted the “Muslim Online Haiti Fundraiser” and raised over $100,000 in two hours. The organisation also used its existing partnership with the Mormon Church to send hygiene kits and temporary shelters to Haiti, in addition to pledging a total of $2.5 million.

Islamic Relief also sent an emergency response team to directly assist victims in Haiti. These Muslim aid workers have been updating a daily blog with sobering first-hand accounts of the tragedy.

Assisting Islamic Relief, Muslim American artists and community activists convened to put on a concert in New York City, hosted by the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), and used the opportunity to raise donations for Haiti. In Chicago, IMAN partnered with a local synagogue and church to raise aid money.

Governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO) of countries that are more often known as recipients of aid have also reached out. Two Pakistani NGOs, Al-Khidmat Foundation and Edhi Foundation, are mobilising relief efforts to help Haitians despite the country’s own political and economic volatility. Both organisations have considerable expertise in this area due to the massive 2005 earthquake that killed nearly 80,000 in northern Pakistan. The Edhi Foundation has already pledged $500,000 to assist Haiti. (more…)

World races to reach 3million Haiti earthquake victims

by sufisahab on Jan 14, 2010 Earthquake, Haiti, World News • Comments Closed • Earthquake, Haiti, world

His face masked in blood, a young boy waits for help in Haiti as the world faces a race against time to reach survivors.

The US is sending 5,700 soldiers and £60million as Barack Obama promised the quake-hit island: “You will not be forsaken.” The UK is sending rescuers and £6million.

But with Haiti’s airport overwhelmed and its roads in ruins, there are fears aid may arrive too late for three million victims of Tuesday’s disaster urgently needing food and water.

President Obama admitted assistance could take days. One Haitian man summed up the country’s dire state as he wailed: “Too many people are dying. We need international help. No food, no phone, no water, no nothing.”

An island of bodies

Its ruined streets are covered in rubble and crammed with starving, homeless victims.

Then there are those even less fortunate than the three million refugees – the dead.

Corpses lie everywhere. Trapped under rubble, tragically poking out from under ruins and even in open view.

Bodies strewn beside roads and on pavements. Some wrapped neatly in sheets and blankets. Others being loaded into trucks. The gutters run with blood and kids sleep among piles of dead bodies.

Under the crumbled buildings lie the dying, calling out to be saved.

As they wait for the world to send in aid, many Haitians desperately claw at lumps of concrete with bare hands and batter chunks of debris with sledgehammers.

American Laura Bickle, who works for an orphanage in capital Port-au-Prince, said: “They’re pulling some people out of the rubble. And, literally, blood is running in the gutter like water.”

Conditions are equally hellish at the island’s medical centres.

A pile of 1,500 corpses was yesterday stacked up outside capital Port-au-Prince’s General Hospital and growing by the hour.

Hospital director Guy LaRoche said: “I can’t say how many more will be brought here.”

Even inside the city’s L’Hopital de la Paix, conditions are just as grim as staff are overwhelmed with the tide of dead and injured.

BBC reporter Matthew Price revealed: “Many are the bodies of adults, but to the right, a baby on her back, her belly bloated and pronounced. She is wearing a silvery blue top, just lying by the curb, abandoned.

“A man stirs to the left. He unfurls a blanket that covers the ground and lies back down. The living are sleeping among the dead.” One young man summed up the country’s desperate plight as he wailed at journalists: “Too many people are dying. We need international help…no emergency, no food, no phone, no water, no nothing.”

Adding to the nightmarish scenes is the fact that many voodoo followers in the country refuse to touch corpses until magic rituals are concluded. (more…)

Advanced search

Haiti crisis triggers quake nightmare for Pakistan legend

In Indonesian villages, nearly all residents feared buried in rubble

Muslim World helping Haiti

World races to reach 3million Haiti earthquake victims

Save The Flood Victim

______________________

Evluate your Link