RAWALPINDI: Over 4,000 persons are reported to have been killed … and a string of villages destroyed in the devastating earthquake that hit the [Swat region] … on Saturday [Dec 28]. According to [a correspondent] who flew over a part of the wrecked area, the death toll, now estimated at 4,700, may go up when reports from all areas struck by the killer earthquake are received.

[Meanwhile, in Pattan, Swat,] the 70-mile belt in the Karakorum ranges, reduced to shambles by Saturday’s worst earthquake in living memory, presents a picture of death and destruction. [A correspondent] saw houses razed to the ground in villages which once pulsated with life. Relief operations were in full swing with helicopters bringing in relief supplies. … Almost each family had suffered casualties. Some families have totally perished.

[A report from the UN adds,] Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim today [Dec 30] offe­red Pakistan “whatever assistance may be possible” from the United Nations following the earthquake… . … In a telegram to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto … Mr. Wald­heim said he had learned with deep distress of the loss of life and suffering caused by the quake.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2024