Thursday, October 13, 2005

Aftershock Shook Islamabad

Early this morning an aftershock shook Islamabad. The magnitude of the quake is still not yet determined. No report of damage or causalties have yet emerged.

In the meantime Pakistan’s President Musharraf has also apologised for the military’s sloth in helping the victims. Initially when criticised, he argued (on TV) that even the Americans took days before they responded to the victims of Katrina (though many American online news didn’t report this comment). He asked the Pakistanis to “bear with him” for a little while longer.

Then there was a scene on TV where a man was seen trapped beneath some rubble. While foreigners and some locals were struggling to clear the slabs to extricate him, dozens of soldiers were standing about 30 metres away just idling. When asked why they weren't helping they replied they haven't received any instructions to do so. After a foreign worker appealed to them, some then chipped in to help clear the rubble.

Without the foreign rescuers one wonder what would have been the situation?

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