Petra News Agency
Sunday, October 9, 2005

King condoles Pakistan, India and Afghanistan over victims of massive earthquake

His Majesty King Abdullah II sent a cable of condolences to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf over victims of a devastating earthquake that struck the countries of Southern Asia including northern Pakistan Saturday. In his cable King Abdullah expressed deep condolences in his name and on behalf of the Jordanian people and government to the Pakistani people and families of the victims. He also expressed Jordan's readiness to send immediate emergency aids to the damaged areas. The King sent two similar cables to Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai whose countries were hit by the earthquake. According to news reports a massive earthquake triggers landslides and flattens villages of mud-brick homes near the border between Pakistan and India, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring thousands of others in both countries. The casualty toll was expected to rise as rescue teams struggled to pull people from the debris, and hospitals evacuated survivors onto their lawns and parking lots, fearing aftershocks could cause more damage, reports said.