Shah Mehmood Qureshi expresses grief over earthquake losses

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday expressed grief over the casualties caused by a devastating earthquake in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and other parts of the country, ARY News reported.

Qureshi in his video message released from New York expressed his deep sorrow over the human loss and damage to the infrastructure in Mirpur, AJK.

He urged federal, AJK government and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to jointly work and carry out rescue and relief operation effectively.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had also expressed deep sorrow and grief over the casualties caused by the earthquake.

PM Imran Khan had directed the concerned authorities to leave no stone unturned in providing best medical facilities to the quake victims. He asked all the institutions to continue rescue and relief operation on emergency basis.

A strong earthquake of 5.8 magnitudes had brought disasters to different parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Wednesday, which claimed at least 23 lives and more than 300 were left injured.

Read more: Earthquake jolts Islamabad, Lahore and suburban areas

Tremors felt in various cities for 10 seconds including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Pasrur, Jhelum, Kot Momin, Murree, Kala Bagh, Sangla Hills and many others where citizens came out of their houses and offices.

The areas were also affected by the tremors include Khyber, Abbottabad, Sukeli, Gujrat, Chiniot, Sargodha, Zafarwal, Shahkot, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Swat, Mardan, Okara, Buner, Faisalabad, Swabi, Phalia, Sarai Alamgir, Shakargarh, Noorpur Thal and Kasur.