From A Relief Worker in Pakistan

This is forwarded from a relief worker on the ground in Pakistan.

Salaam O Alykum Dear Brs. & Srs.

I pray all is well Insha'Allah.

I got back from Muzafarabad last night. I am currently in Islamabad. My journey to Muzafarabad was long as blocks of road slid off the mountains due tothe earthquake. Rain and hail storm the nightbefore did not help either. Trucks, busses and carswere seen every so many miles stuck in the hilly roadsor sliding off as the muddy roads gave in. As we entered the city of Muzafarabad we were welcomedby a strong stinch of decaying bodies, buried aliveunder the flattened buildings. The atmosphere wasfull of chaotic sounds such as cries of families, yelling for aid by helpless men, women and children. The moment I entered the city we came across abuilding and the army had found yet another body fromthe rubble badly crushed as the concrete fell on this man. Not a soul was in the city without face masks as one would throw up due to the stinch of decaying bodies. Any human being would be teary eyes after seing the situation of the people of that city.

I moved on to IR office. There I met an employee whohad lost 23 family members in the mountains of Kashmir. Yet, he has been there from the 2nd day helping others. Such is the morale of people of that region currently. Almost all local employees of IR have had a loss in this disastor. I was told that thefirst two days after the quake were depicting the endof time as no one soul had time to look at another as they all were trying to save their own lives. The city was constatly rocked with over 400 after shocks. As you see the pictures that I am sending as part ofanother email, you will see structure after structureflattend to the ground. Each building has its own story, each building has a body trapped, unaccessableto this date.

A doctor told me that his team of 20 doctors were thefirst ones in Muzafarabad after the quake. When hereached the cricket ground he saw over 2,500 peoplelying on the ground waiting for medical help. In thecourse of next 3 days this team amputated over a 1,000individuals to save their lives without all the properanesthesia and medications.One of the picutres has a kid holding the photographof his older brother and cousin crushed while theywere in school.Girls in a local school got trapped in the schoolbuilding, I was told a figure of over 50+ girls. Their cries faded away by Wednesday. IR staffmentioned that the sounds of the girls cries willhaunt them for the rest of their life.

I went to the camp site, each tent had their ownstories and each family had their own share of losses. Not one family left without a loss. I met a man whoworked in another city, said all of his brothers passed away so now he has to support 4 families (avg. family size 7-8). A man walked into the city of Muzafarabad after a hike of full day carrying his mother on his back with broken limbs. He had to return back to his village as there were more family members he had left behind. There is a picture of a woman in black chadar. She lost two of her sons. Another husband and wife sitting cooking together lost all their kids. A kidstanding in front of the IR truck lost his parents and was being taken care off by a neighbor. You will see a picture of a green mountain with houses all over it. Next picture is of a white mountain. Half of the green mountain flattened out wiping out all of the houses on it and burrying an entire village in the valley below. There are many mountains where half of it caved in, these are not small mud slides these are mountains that partially flattend and became dirt.

I could go on and on but I thought I would share a little bit of my expierience during my stay in Muzafarabad. Baagh, Balakot, Manshera and hundreds ofother smaller villages throughout the mountanous area are unaccounted for and no relief has arrived there. IR has a staff of 32 medical team that had gone on a project to Neelum Valley and are currently stuck there as the only bridge that leads into the village collapsed. I am sure all of you guys are but another reminder please keep all the people affected in your du'a. MayAllah not have anyone go through such a catastrophe. Please forgive me if I said something wrong. Please keep me in your du'a.

W'Salaam

Nauman Khan