MUZAFFARABAD, May 18: Hundreds of temporary shelters and tents were toppled as a windstorm hit the AJK capital and adjoining areas on Friday afternoon, rendering once again many of the survivors of the Oct 2005 earthquake homeless.
Over a dozen people, including some women, were injured after they were either hit by flying tin-sheets of impoverished shelters or trapped under toppled electric poles and trees in different areas, police and witnesses said.
At least 10 people sustained minor injuries in and around the Eidgah makeshift camp whereas another six were wounded elsewhere. Among them was Ms Qalandar Jan who was critically injured in the Meratanolian camp.
A rickshaw driver, Javed Hussain, was also seriously wounded when a damaged shelter hit his three-wheeler near Sangri Mera.
Nineteen months after the Oct 2005 earthquake, hundreds of affected families are still living in makeshift camps, comprising tents or temporary shelters.
In the downtown area of Muzaffarabad, many have returned to their damaged houses after superficial repair work after failing to witness any practical steps on part of the authorities for implementation of the much-hyped master plan for the ravaged state capital.
A police official said the number of wounded people could be higher as reports about losses from remote areas were yet to be received.
Witnesses said the windstorm, which began at 5:25 pm, lasted between 10 and 15 minutes. It raised clouds of dust which marred visibility.
"It caused panic and I heard women and children shouting loudly out of fear," Zahid Shafi, a resident of Plate, told Dawn.
A survivor in the nearby Kahori village said the storm had taken them back to the position of Oct 8, 2005.
"The shelters we had built over the past one and a half years have been knocked down," said Ishtiaq Ahmed.
