Quake kills more than 19,000 in South Asia
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-09 19:25

A massive earthquake cut a swath of destruction across South Asia Saturday, killing more than 19,000 people. The worst destruction was in and near the Pakistani side of the divided and disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, where the quake flattened dozens of villages and towns, crushing schools and mud-brick houses.

Zeeshan sits on rubble of his house destroyed by a huge earthquake in Gari Habibullah, 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005. Bodies lay in the streets and villagers pulled debris from collapsed schools and mud-brick homes with their bare hands on, desperate to find survivors from a huge earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, killing more than 18,000 people. [AP]

At least a dozen bodies were strewn on the streets of Balakot, a devastated village of about 30,000 just west of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, where the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck South Asia shortly before 9 a.m. was centered. Villagers desperate to find survivors dug with bare hands through the debris of a collapsed school, searching for children that were heard crying beneath the rubble.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 19,136 people were killed, 17,388 of them in Pakistani Kashmir. The worst-hit city in Pakistani Kashmir was its capital, Muzaffarabad, where 11,000 died, Sherpao said. He also said 42,397 were injured.

Helicopters and C-130 transport planes took troops and supplies to damaged areas on Sunday. But landslides and rain hindered rescue efforts, blocking roads to some remote areas.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf appealed to the international community to help with relief efforts. He appealed for medicine, tents, cargo helicopters and financial assistance. The United States, the United Nations, Britain, Russia, China, Turkey, Japan, German and India all offered assistance.

"We do seek international assistance. We have enough manpower but we need financial support ... to cope with the tragedy," Musharraf said. He said supplies were needed "to reach out to the people in far-flung and cut-off areas." The president spoke in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad, before leaving on a tour of devastated areas.