Pakistan Earthquake

[UKFSSART webmaster]

A major earthquake shook cities and villages across the south Asian subcontinent on Saturday morning (08/10/05), including the Pakistan capital Islamabad where scores of people were feared killed or trapped as at least two buildings have collapsed. Officials said heavy casualties were expected in the north of Pakistan, but details were difficult to obtain because telephone lines were down and mobile networks overwhelmed.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 0350 GMT and was centered about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad. DFID and the UKFSSART are aware of the situation and are monitoring the situation. At the present time no official request for international assistance has been made by the Government of Pakistan.

[UKFSSART webmaster]

09:45 08/10/05:
Following discussions with the DFID Duty Officer, the on-duty teams (Grampian, Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire and Lancashire) have been sent preliminary alert notifications and medical personnel have also been put on stand-by. The UKFSSART Co-ordinator continues to monitor the situation.

[UKFSSART webmaster]

20:30 08/10/05:
The UK Government has decided to despatch the UK search & rescue team under the terms of a bi-lateral agreement with the Government of Pakistan. The team will leave East Midlands Airport around midnight (08/10/05) on an aircraft chartered by the Department of International Development, arriving in Islamabad in the afternoon 09/10/05. The team consists of 38 UKFSSART members and 37 NGO members together with 4 canines and a small medical team.

[UKFSSART webmaster]

20:30 18/10/05:
The remaining personnel from the West Midlands Fire Service arrived back at East Midlands Airport this evening following their deployment to the earthquake in Pakistan.

This was one of the most successful search and rescue missions ever mounted, the UK teams rescued a total of 13 people, 7 in Islamabad and 6 from the Muzaffarabad area. This was approximately 50% of the total rescues carried out by all the international rescue teams responding to the disaster.

Keith Ring, the UK Team Leader said, "This deployment was one of the longest ever undertaken by UKFSSART and certainly the most successful with a total of 13 live rescues being undertaken by teams from the UK. The success of the deployment was down to the fact that we were mobilised quickly, arrived in country early and the professionalism demonstrated by all team players who had to work in extreme conditions in a country whose infrastructure had totally collapsed. Scenes encountered were very harrowing and we all wished we could have done more. However, given the constraints that we had to work within I am convinced that we could not have achieved more."
Keith added, "The UK contingent demonstrated to the UN that we are able to offer a very professional response to this type of disaster and I am certain that we will find ourselves being more involved in the future with the whole range of humanitarian aid."