October 31 2008

SOS Children's Village unaffected by Pakistan quake

31/10/2008 - The earthquake that killed 215 people in Baluchistan, has left the children, staff and facilities of SOS Children's Villages unscathed.

 

Photo: SOS CV Pakistan
SOS Children's Villages' emergency relief programme from 2005 is still operational - Photo: SOS Children's Villages Pakistan
The 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the poorest region of Pakistan, Baluchistan, on 29 October, has killed more than 200 people and reduced 1,500 houses to rubble, leaving close to 20,000 people homeless in freezing temperatures, according to Reuters. Roads have been blocked by landslides, making it even more difficult to get help to the more remote areas.

Luckily, SOS Children's Villages has suffered neither losses nor damages in this disaster. The new SOS Children's Village that is currently under construction in Quetta was left untarnished, as were the houses where the children are presently residing. "Four new units have been completed and are  being readied for the children to move in by late November" says Souriya Anwar from SOS Children's Villages Pakistan.

SOS Children's Villages has been running an emergency relief programme in Pakistan since 2005, when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan's northern mountains and killed 73,000.