DUBAI: Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have started making donations for the victims of the massive earthquake that struck South Asia, a spokesman at the Pakistani consulate in Dubai said.

“A centre has been opened at the consulate to collect clothes, covers, medicines as well as money,” spokesman Zafer Iqbal told AFP.

Iqbal said members of the 700,000-strong Pakistani community in the UAE have started to make donations at the consulate in Dubai and the embassy in Abu Dhabi.

A bank account for donations has also been opened, he said.

“The consulate and the embassy have taken measures to issue passports and visas” to Pakistanis and foreigners seeking to travel to Pakistan in an emergency, he said.

The Pakistan Business Council, an organisation of Pakistani businessmen, appealed “for an urgent help from its members and all Pakistanis and other fellow brothers and sisters and friends.”—AFP