Prince Charles and Camilla Parker visits earthquake affected areas
Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla met survivors of last year’s devastating earthquake during a visit to the mountains of Azad Kashmir on Wednesday.
The couple, on their first trip to Pakistan amid tight security, toured reconstruction projects in Pattika, a small town in the Neelam Valley near the epicentre of the October 2005 quake that killed some 74,000 people.
“Our sympathies are with you,” reporters overheard Charles telling one of the residents they met on their three-hour trip. Most of the projects in the town are UK-funded.
After flying in by helicopter, the prince wearing an off-white suit and his wife attired in a matching outfit passed through the town’s bazaar where children, lined up on both sides, welcomed them by clapping and waving. Charles briefly talked to the owner of a small grocery shop and also conversed with some children.
Banners strung up by the road said: “Long Live Pakistan-UK Friendship,” and “Welcome Prince Charles and Princess Camilla.”
Two female students presented them with bouquets at a government-run high school which was totally destroyed by the 7.6-magnitude quake, killing over 100 schoolchildren and three teachers. Classes there are now held in tents.
The couple also talked to patients waiting for routine check-ups at a healthcare facility rebuilt by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after the original buildings collapsed.
Finally, Charles and Camilla visited a field veterinary hospital and cattle centre that has given away nearly 1,500 milking cows to victims of the disaster. The ICRC and the German Red Cross jointly run it.
Britain had participated in the relief efforts in an “expression of solidarity”, reporters quoted Charles as saying.
Pakistani officials briefed the royal couple on efforts to build new houses and find livelihoods for the estimated 3.5 million people who were left homeless by the earthquake. Security was tight throughout the visit with British bodyguards shadowing the couple’s every move.
Azad Kashmir President Raja Zulqarnain, Prime Minister Sardar Attiq Ahmed Khan and the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority chairman and deputy chairman received the royal couple in Pattika.
Source: Daily Times
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