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A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in mid-April left 35,000 people homeless, hundreds of people seriously injured and around 40 reported dead in the far flung area of Mashkail in the Balochistan province in Southwestern Pakistan. NRC will be distributing essential house hold items to the affected population
The powerful earthquake, which had its epicenter in neighboring Iran, caused much destruction in Mashkail, damaging thousands of homes mostly made of mud and forcing people to sleep out under the open sky. The quake hit area is situated 600 km away from Quetta city, the provincial capital of Balochistan.
55 years old Bashir Raki’s house was completely demolished by the earthquake killing his two nephews in the town area of Mashkail. The children and women of his family are living with a relative inside a cracked house, while Raki is spending his nights sleeping on the debris of his house. “Thousands of the people from our area are in desperate need of tents as all of our mud houses are completely destroyed by the earthquake“ said Raki.
Government and other humanitarian agencies are trying hard to provide relief assistance to the affected population, however, difficult road conductions, lack of communication and wider insecurity has hampered humanitarian efforts in the affected area. More than 85% of the population of Mashkail has been affected by the quake, leaving the city with little resources to cope with the damaging effects of the disaster.
“NRC has responded to the government’s request to deliver humanitarian assistance in Balochistan and plans to distribute 2,000 to 3,000 kits with essential house hold items, based on the needs of the vulnerable population in Mashkail,” said Saeed Ullah Khan, Country Director for NRC Pakistan. The kits contain water cooler, cooking set, soaps, bucket, jerry can, mosquito nets, bed-sheets, and sleeping mats etc.
NRC’s work in this region and good relations with the authorities have earned the organization access, trust and acceptance by the government and the local communities and NRC was one of few International NGOs to be requested by the government to provide immediate assistance to the affected population.
Background:
Balochistan is the largest, sparsely populated and one of least developed provinces of Pakistan. NRC has been working in Balochistan for more than two years in one of the most complex and challenging environments in Pakistan, providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups previously affected by the floods in the sectors of WASH, ICLA, NFIs distribution and Education reaching to more than 100,000 beneficiaries in 2012.
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