Disaster on the Indus

The week-long festivities of the Moslem sacrificial feast known as Eid-ul-Azha had not yet ended. Suddenly one evening as Pakistanis gathered in their local mosques for prayers an earthquake rumbled across the northern part of the country. Within moments, thousands of buildings collapsed into rubble, and some mountain villages were practically wiped from the map. By the time the tremors finally stopped 24 hours later, at least 5,100 people were dead, and more than 15,000 injured.

The worst effects of the quake centered on a 70-mile belt of the Karakoram Highway, which was built with the aid of the Chinese along the old silk route linking Tibet and Kashmir. "When the quake started at dusk, I was saying my prayers with five other policemen in the police-station mosque," recalled Constable Mian Zar of the village of Pattan. "Suddenly, the whole building started shaking and the roof collapsed. Three of my colleagues were killed."

Pattan (pop. 10,000), which lies on the western bank of the Indus River in a bowl of snow-capped mountains, was completely destroyed. Across the river in the village of Palos, a mosque collapsed, killing 40 worshipers. A 25-mile portion of the Karakoram Highway caved in, while huge boulders blocked other sections.

Last week, as survivors picked their way through the ruins looking for loved ones, the Pakistani army began a helicopter airlift to the victims. Authorities feared that the toll might rise when rescue teams make contact with other villages that have been entirely cut off by the quake.

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