QUETTA: Four military helicopters flew to Balochistan’s Mashkail on Wednesday morning, taking supplies of medicines, rations, tents and blankets for those affected by Tuesday’s earthquake centred in nearby Iran, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Hundreds of houses were completely destroyed in the powerful tremors generated by the quake with the death toll standing at 40 in the region.
Military helicopters are expected to evacuate at least 20 critically injured people from Mashkail to Civil Military Hospital Quetta. Reports moreover say that several people are still buried under the rubble.
Although the epicentre of Tuesday’s 7.8 magnitude quake lay in southeast Iran, all of the deaths so far have been reported in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
The powerful tremor shook the ground and caused panic as far afield as Kuwait and the Indian capital New Delhi.
In Pakistan, officials said regular army and paramilitary forces had deployed to help the relief effort after the quake brought down homes in Mashkail.
