Aid is beginning to arrive in the devastated Ziyarat and Pishin region of North West Pakistan hit by a 6.4 earthquake in the small hours of yesterday morning.

IR aid workers are on the ground coordinating a response to assist the survivors of the disaster. An estimated 233 people lost their lives and over 200 people were injured during the earthquake that struck at 4am on Wednesday morning close to Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

IR is assisting 300 families, around 2,400 people, by providing food items, blankets and kitchen utensils and is working on logistics to deliver aid to the worst affected areas. Some roads remain cut off and remote villages are inaccessible due to falling debris blocking paths and roads caused by landslides. The region has suffered a number of aftershocks, which has created panic and sent thousands of people onto the streets in fear for their lives.

Aid agencies are prioritising the purchase of heavy winterised tents as temperatures in the earthquake zone plummet to minus 2 degrees with even harsher weather and snowfall expected in the coming weeks.

“Our emergency response team is on the ground piecing together the information we need to coordinate a full response to this disaster. Already we are receiving reports of desperate people who have lost their loved ones and homes to this disaster. The immediate priority is to ensure that people are given shelter as the bitter winter sets in” said Muhammed Niyaz, an IR aid worker in Pakistan.

IR has launched an appeal to assist earthquake survivors. For more information on the appeal or IR’s response to the disaster visit: www.islamic-relief.com

For more information or to set up an interview with Muhammed Niyaz in Pakistan please call:

Shaista Aziz on: + 44 (0) 7813675505

Jamsheed Din on: +44 (0) 7720 451 310 Or 0121 622 0663

Helen Mould on: 0121 622 0719