BALAKOT: Desperate villagers whose communities were razed to the ground by the massive earthquake were on Thursday pouring into this city to find only more devastation.

Hundreds if not thousands of villagers — the exact number impossible to verify — have descended from the mountains since Saturday’s disaster to Balakot, formerly a city of 40,000 people but now reduced to a sea of tents.

Fatima, a widow of around 50 years old, decided to make the two-hour walk to town with her four daughters and two sons aged between five and 16 after her village of Pamara was wiped out.

But here she has waited for five days under a blazing sun by day and in a damp cold at night and still doesn’t have what she needs to live.

“We got a bit of food, some fruit juice and biscuits. But what we really need is shelter — a tent — to survive,” she said.

Fatima, who uses her purple shawl to keep her entire family warm when they sleep, thought her chance had come when she approached trucks carrying aid.

“But there was a mad rush. I was pushed and shoved,” she said.

Wali Rehman had initially decided to stay in his village of Sanghar outside Balakot. For three days, the 60-year-old waited with what was left of his family and buried his brother and nephew.

“We stayed there without eating but nothing arrived,” he said.

Finally he decided to take the road, leaving behind his village where victims lie with broken arms and legs.

Balakot in North West Frontier Province was one of the towns worst hit by the 7.6-magnitude quake.

While the situation is dire in Balakot, far away in the mountains many villages remain completely cut off.—AFP