MANSEHRA, Oct 7: Over 1. 5 million survivors in five quake-hit districts of the NWFP will observe the second anniversary of the Oct 8, 2005, tragedy on Monday.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will address gatherings of affected people on the occasion.

At least 73,000 peoples were killed and 70,000 others injured, while about 2.8 million were rendered homeless when the earthquake struck the northern parts of the NWFP and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the Asian Development Bank’s report, 203,579 houses were destroyed and 196,574 damaged.

The earthquake destroyed infrastructure to the tune of $2.3 billion and private property valued at about $1.03 billion. The education sector suffered damage worth $330 million.

The earthquake struck Mansehra, Abbottabad, Battagram, Kohistan and Shangla districts in the NWFP, where about 25,000 people died, 40,573 were injured and 395,907 houses were destroyed.