Around 20 people
were killed and more than 200 injured in southern Pakistan after a shallow
earthquake hit the area in the early hours of Thursday as people slept, as per
reports.
According to
reports, many of the victims died after roofs and walls collapsed due to the
5.7 magnitude quake in the Balochistan province and power cut forced health
workers to treat the injured people using flashlights.
The remote
mountainous city of Harnai was the worst-affected area, where a lack of paved
roads, electricity and mobile phone coverage hampered rescuers.
Balochistan Home
Minister Mir Zia Ullah Langau said, "We are receiving information that 20
people have been killed due to the earthquake.”
A woman and six
children were among 20 dead, as informed by Suhail Anwar Hashmi, a senior
provincial government official. He also added that more than 200 people have
been injured.
Hashmi said that
they will soon send helicopters to the area to help support the rescue
operation and to evacuate the injured people.
Meanwhile, Naseer
Nasar, the head of Balochistan's Provincial Disaster Management Authority,
warned that the toll may rise.
According to the US
Geological Survey, the quake had a magnitude of 5.7 and struck around 3 am at a
depth of around 20 kilometres (12 miles).
It was also felt in
Balochistan's capital Quetta.
The earthquake caused electricity to fail in the region, with health staff working until dawn without lights in a poorly equipped government hospital.
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