MUZAFFARABAD – Pakistans united in mourning yesterday in memory of about 73 000 people killed in an earthquake exactly a year ago, while survivors vented frustration over the pace of reconstruction.
Almost two weeks into Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, Pakistan’s mosques have been even more crowded than usual. Yesterday, worshippers prayed in unison for the dead and survivors alike to mark the first anniversary of the nation’s worst disaster.”This day has revived my sorrows because I have lost many loved ones.May God give courage to our new generation to rebuild this city,” said Abdul Rahim, 65, in Muzaffarabad, as he waited for a commemoration ceremony to begin at a stadium near the Pakistan Kashmiri capital’s ruined university.Sirens sounded across the nation to start a minute’s silence.The quake struck at 8,52 a.m.on a Saturday morning, at a time when schools and government offices were full.With an intensity measured at 7,6, it lasted less than two minutes, yet destroyed the homes of more than 3 million people in North West Frontier Province and Pakistani Kashmir.Small prayer meetings were held in Balakot, a town in the Frontier province that suffered the most intensive devastation.The largest group of mourners were in the grounds of a ruined school where 63 children were buried in a common grave.More than 200 were killed there when the walls and ceilings caved in.There was also a memorial service held in Islamabad to remember those killed in the Margala Towers – the only building in the capital to collapse.An overnight vigil was held at the site of the ten-storey residential block, where nearly 50 people died, many of them foreigners.Nampa-ReutersYesterday, worshippers prayed in unison for the dead and survivors alike to mark the first anniversary of the nation’s worst disaster.”This day has revived my sorrows because I have lost many loved ones.May God give courage to our new generation to rebuild this city,” said Abdul Rahim, 65, in Muzaffarabad, as he waited for a commemoration ceremony to begin at a stadium near the Pakistan Kashmiri capital’s ruined university.Sirens sounded across the nation to start a minute’s silence.The quake struck at 8,52 a.m.on a Saturday morning, at a time when schools and government offices were full.With an intensity measured at 7,6, it lasted less than two minutes, yet destroyed the homes of more than 3 million people in North West Frontier Province and Pakistani Kashmir.Small prayer meetings were held in Balakot, a town in the Frontier province that suffered the most intensive devastation.The largest group of mourners were in the grounds of a ruined school where 63 children were buried in a common grave.More than 200 were killed there when the walls and ceilings caved in.There was also a memorial service held in Islamabad to remember those killed in the Margala Towers – the only building in the capital to collapse.An overnight vigil was held at the site of the ten-storey residential block, where nearly 50 people died, many of them foreigners.Nampa-Reuters
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