Expatriates worried about loved ones

Al Ain: Pakistani expatriates in the UAE have been struggling to contact their loved ones in Balochistan province which was rattled by an earthquake on Wednesday.

A source in Quetta, the provincial capital, said many communication and electricity towers in Ziarat, which is about 50km in the north of Quetta, have been uprooted. Pakistani Baloch community was glued to telephones and television screens to get updates on the earthquake.

The earthquake measuring 6.5 struck around 5am, leaving scores of people killed and injured while they were still in their beds in the outlying villages.

Most of the mud houses in the villages have been destroyed and the jolts triggered landslides blocking the roads.

Mohammad Murad, a Pakistani living in Al Ain, said his family were not picking up the phone and he is very concerned about their safety. "I don't know what to do in this situation," he said.

Murad said he and his friends have been praying for the safety of their relatives and friends. Murad is from Ziarat that is worst hit by the earthquake.

Khadim Ali, another Pakistani, said he called his relatives in Quetta asking them to check on his immediate family in Ziarat.

"I was lucky to receive a return call from my family at around 10:30am and everybody was safe," he said, adding that a portion of his house was damaged.

Abdullah Laghari, another Pakistani, said the Pakistani embassy in the UAE should make emergency arrangements to send relief goods and medicines.

"Our province is less developed and the people area already living hand to mouth," he said.