Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.
As I am sure everyone has heard by now a massive earthquake has hit northern Pakistan, as well as India and Afghanistan. Azad Kashmir appears the worst hit although Islamabad is also badly affected.
The latest death toll at the time of writing was nearing 20,000, though God alone knows how much the final toll will be. Our family members who live in Islamabad happen to be in the UK at the present time, and those most likely to be affected live in Sialkot, so have been spared much of the calamity. I have been unable to get hold of my close friend whose family come from Kashmir. I pray they are not hurt too badly. God give the survivors strength and may He have mercy on the souls of the deceased. The BBC reports that on the Indian side of the Kashmiri line of control, the death toll has doubled.
As usual the BBC leads the way in reporting. They have an entire section dedicated to the quake (and those who can read Urdu can follow the news on the BBC's Urdu service).
Haroon has posts on this. Zack does too. Global Voices Online has a collection of Pakistani reponses to the quake. A Pakistani earthquake wiki has been set up, as well as South Asia Quake Blog.
Give what you can and don't forget people in your du'a. And be careful when giving online donations: even in times like these there are unscrupulous individuals whose worship of money leads them renounce compassion for their fellow man.
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You have family in Sialkot and you are from the UK? I have lots of Sialkoti relatives as well and some of them have ended up in the UK. Could we be related?
Posted by: Zack | October 09, 2005 at 07:21 PM
It's a tiny, tiny world as I've found out, Zack. You never know we might well be!
Posted by: thabet | October 10, 2005 at 08:46 AM