Escape from the epicentre
When it happened, I had no idea how close I was and how much of a disaster it would turn out to be.
We had planned this trekking trip around the beautiful Neelam Valley for ages.
My friends and I were travelling during Ramadan so we carried our own food and water. We were loaded up with gas, rice, lentils, water - only later did I realise how lucky this was.
We left our night stop nine minutes late. I think now that delay could have saved our lives.As we were heading towards Muzaffarabad, our driver suddenly spoke out: “I have no control, I feel as if the car is flying”.
Rocks were rolling down the mountain towards us. At that point, there was a fork on the road and our driver hurtled down the other side and steered us under a large bridge.
Rocks continued to fall on either side and there was an enormous cloak of dust. I thought of the 9/11 footage when smoke filled the air and people were running everywhere.
There was a thick fog - it was as if the mountain was boiling.
And then, silence, followed by a sense of euphoria that we were safe. We celebrated.
We thought it was just the biggest landslide we had ever seen.
We drove around trying to find our way to Muzaffarabad, but everywhere the roads were blocked.
And then the second shock came. We thought the road was going to collapse and more rocks rolled down the hillside.
Then people started to appear. They were bringing the injured, mostly children.
One man was carrying a two-year-old girl. I thought of my own daughters at that point. Her head was bleeding and he was trying to stem the blood flow, but her eyes were rolling up into her skull.
I asked him how he was, but he was totally incoherent. He said his father and wife were injured at home. I calmed him down and gave him some of the water we had with us.
More people came. Nobody had food with them because it was Ramadan.
Soon word spread that we had supplies and drivers started rushing over saying they had children and women who needed help.
At dusk, we can break our fast. We told people that we could cook for them. The local police arrived quickly but we were the first with a makeshift relief camp.
I have to mention my friends who took part in this: Zahid Masood, Mirza Rizwan, Malik Abdullah and Zahid Majeed.
None of us had any idea about what had really happened. When I returned home to Lahore, there was huge relief.
Everybody had heard about the earthquake and they knew that their husbands and sons were going to Muzaffarabad.
That was the closest call I’ve had in my life.
Source: BBC
Technorati Tags: Neelam Valley, Muzaffarabad
October 23rd, 2005 at 3:51 pm
As a Engineer working in America, I strongly believe that America now have a device more deadly then any other weapon on the face of Earth; which is Earth quake Generator, it works on simply fact which is take three to four nukes and put them at a distance of X will generate shock waves and control sequence of blasts of these nukes will generate a shock under the surface of Earth which will destroy everything in its path; the same thing happened in Azad Kashmir, I strongly suggest Pakistan spy agency ISI to send spies in Indian Kashmir and they will soon find out traces of this experiment in a radius of 40 Km from Balakot or from the epicentre of this Earthquake. India, America and Israil joined forces and did this act to soften the stance of Pakistan on Kashmir and to land all European and American forces in Pakistan which was impossible under normal circumstances
and also not that this Earthquake occurs in the area which has no history of any or major Earthquake, too many mountains bring stability in the areas around them, so folks this is an act of war from India, America and Israil on Pakistan but we could not do anything but if truth comes out with proof then these people will lose everything Inshallah
October 25th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
If this was another ruthless act of man then;
October 26th, 2005 at 11:16 pm
So it is Kashmir you want eh?. Now try handling the portion you have…. It has finally been possible to damage even the territories of Pakistan without the act of war itself. The evil doers must be rejoicing the success of their mission which is all that mattered to them. The thought of wasting and having wasted countless precious human lives was/is secondary as has always been the case with unscrupulous people throughout history. One often wonders, on what grounds do they manage to call themselves scientists? How can a creative mind ever think of bringing about death and destruction?. There is a strong and sad feeling that many of the players in the satanic team could be women. The project leader too is probably a woman!. As in most cases, the country’s private sector must also be heavily involved. Infact one of the involved companies could have sold the idea to the relevant authority/ies at some cost!.
With a mind in turmoil and in pain, it is hard trying to print these words on the screen specislly when you know that some of the Satanic team members must, at this very moment be enjoying time with their living and healthy family members and friends smug with the
thought of being now among the very very important and powerful people of their country. Smug also with the thought of having gauranteed there own security and that of their loved ones by the state for the rest of their lives. However, let it be known that the
receptive minds of the world always get to know the truth, that is how it has been from the begining.
Country and/or Individuals, the villans of this great crime too will be shortly exposed….I assure you!
October 31st, 2005 at 8:15 pm
Bhagliar will be completed sometimes next year and work on more than eight micro hydal projects has already begun. In the cover of all this large scale excavation and tunneling work, could be that some one was busy digging deep holes in the mountains for installing high intensity explosives. I’v read somewhere that explosives placed in a special manner and detonated in a certain timing sequence can cause the resulting shock waves to travel in particular directions through the ground over small to medium scale distances. If a nefarious hand was at work planning and designing the destruction of certain areas in the region then the best people who could be asked for help in the matter would be the guys in the ubiquitous northern command say for example the Nagrota Corp guys….
Hey A.K, seen or heard of any suspecious activities in your area/s? Nope!, well I thought as much!
November 4th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
I happened on this site looking for some information on the Pakistan Earthquake. Unfortunately, claims such as the above, focus the attention and energy that should be harnessed to help and do good after such a natural disaster to a baseless spin. I wouldn’t comment here, if I didn’t think that this baseless spin would be recognized as such and people would merely roll their eyes and move on. After my experience in Bam, Iran, I found that people there had also been circulating rummors about the destruction caused by nuclear blast and not an earthquake. Here are some simple facts.
1) This region is seismically active. This means large earthquakes have happened in the past and will happen in the future. As unfortunate as the tragedy is, there is nothing unnatural about this event
2) Nuclear blasts have a very different signature on a seismograph (a device that records the earthquake waves) than an earthquake. Analysis of the seismic wavefield generated by nuclear blasts shows the source can be characterized as 70-80 percent dilational (explosive-like) and 20-30 percent deviatoric (earthquake-like). Seismographs are very sensitive instruments that can record earthquake from thousand of kilometers away and the instruments are located in many countries, including neighboring Iran. An undeground nuclear blast would be quickly exposed by the international community
3) If the above two points are not convincing for you and you are deeply rooted in conspiracy theories, than consider the simple fact that there have been no reports of radiation or radiation-related deaths and injuries. How could this possibly slip the attention of all the people involved in working there or get covered up!
November 6th, 2005 at 2:40 pm
i will further the questions above and ask the people to explain the significant figure of aftershocks , around 2000 of them i think so far? . come on guys dont act like the americans , who are always blaming every thing on al-quada and then using it as the lame excuse to trash a country or region . lets be practical here , i have been to balakot to and i can tell you for sure , there is no such thing as the ones mentioned in the first comments .. WMDs …… if this was possible dont u think israel would have used it a long time ago on the neighbouring countries and in various other scenarios.
i think the best thing to do would be to visit these areas and see actually happened and learn how the wrath of God demolished a whole generation and we are still so damn ignorant that we are still refuse to see it that way.
November 15th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
I feel for you as my mum died in the kashmir earthquake. You are a very strong and brave man. Promise me something you feel very lucky that you survived. You are one of a kind thank you Josh xxx
November 24th, 2005 at 9:36 am
Does anyone know an address where blankets could be posted safely so that the people get them before winter? I know a relief effort is being co-ordinated but it seems to me that many cities have umpteen blankets in their thrift shops and these could be sent directly (fast!) to the places where they are needed.
March 1st, 2006 at 4:56 am
shaz my man you are 100% percent right this is americans doing its sad but the truth more to come
April 28th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
what did you think after this happened? what was your reactions? well that s all bye