Back to most recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this story

In Pakistan "It's a Horror Story that Doesn't End."

A Pakistani earthquake survivor is treated at a hospital in Mansehra. Rescuers searched frantically in the rubble of flattened towns and villages for survivors. Photo: REUTERS/Zahid Hussein, courtesy alertnet.org

October 11, 2005

By Chris Herlinger/CWS

"This is going to be the one remembered as the earthquake that killed the children," CWS Pakistan/Afghanistan Director Marvin Parvez said today in an interview from Pakistan.

Parvez is on the scene helping coordinate the Church World Service response to the calamitous earthquake that has killed more than 20,000 persons. (Parvez said one report today from Pakistan estimated the toll could climb to 80,000 fatalities.)

While there are occasional bits of good news about rescued survivors -- as he spoke by phone to CWS headquarters, Parvez received "beautiful news" of four children being rescued from a school -- reports from the scene have otherwise been extremely bleak.

"There are recovered bodies of children being set outside of schools, ready for burial."

"As a parent, this is very difficult to see," Parvez said.

He added: "It's a horror story that doesn't end. You find yet another village that has been flattened by this earthquake." Efforts to rescue survivors or retrieve bodies are being hampered by the inaccessibility of remote rural villages. "These villages are in mountainous regions where there no roads," he said.

Parvez urged support for CWS efforts to provide shelter to earthquake survivors, saying there is "tremendous need right now. People have lost their homes and need shelter. People are very scared and they can’t afford to lose any more loved ones."

In addition to support, Parvez, a member of the Methodist Church of Pakistan, asked for prayer from U.S. Christians and supporters of CWS efforts in Pakistan. "We need prayers for parents who lost their children," he said, "and for children who lost their parents."

Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to:
Church World Service
Southern Asia Earthquake--#6979
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made online, or by calling 800.297.1516, ext. 222.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

Back to most recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this story