December 20, 2005	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 17, 1426

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MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 19: Chairman of the United Nations Foundation Ted Turner, UN secretary general’s special adviser Dr Nafis Sadiq and eight members of the foundation visited the quake-hit capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

Mr Truner, who was accompanied by his fiancée Rebekah Stewart, termed the Oct 8 earthquake a great tragedy.

“I haven’t seen anything like it. So much damage. It’s a great tragedy,” he said after landing in Muzaffarabad. The delegation went to the Thuri Park tent village which houses about 1600 survivors from different areas of Muzaffarabad district.

“It is an honour and privilege to be here with you and see the remarkable recovery that you have made from the trauma,” Mr Turner told the crowd.

“When we learnt about the quake and the terrible disaster we gave substantial money through the United Nations to help out the victims,” the media tycoon said.

Before coming to Pakistan, Mr Turner said, he and his colleagues had visited Bangladesh and India.

“You are doing such a good job here. It makes my heart feel good to see that so much good is coming out from wreckage. You are working together and it makes me proud to be a human being when I see this,” he told the survivors. Mr Turner and his fiancée distributed toys among surviving children.

Earlier, they visited the Combined Military Hospital in the capital’s hard-hit downtown where commanding officer Col Iqbal Hanif showed them round and briefed them on the losses.

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