BALUCHISTAN EARTHQUAKE AN APPALLING DISASTER

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 210, 3 June 1935, Page 9

BALUCHISTAN EARTHQUAKE AN APPALLING DISASTER

More Than 10,000 Native Victims * EUROPEANS KILLED NOW TOTAL 200, WITH 50 AIR FORCE MEN Hundreds Trapped in Burning Buildings B V Telegraph.—Press Assn.— Copyright. (Received June 2, 7.25 p.m.) London, June 1. Latest reports from British Baluchistan, where a disastrous earthquake occurred at 3 o’clock on Friday morning, reveal a tragedy of appalling magnitude. Difficulties of communication with the stricken area allow of no accurate estimate of the total death-roll, but it is believed that 200 Europeans were killed and between 10,000 and 15,000 natives killed or injured. Harrowing stories are told of whole families buried among the ruins. Deaths among members of the Royal Air Force now total 50.

Over four hundred miles of territory

have been devastated in one of the worst earthquakes ever known to India. Details are still meagre. The most thickly-populated portions of- Quetta were completely flattened out. Chaman, a frontier post sixty miles to the north, was wiped out, while landslides destroyed many neighbouring villages. The Air Force barracks at Quetta are now mere debris, wherein are the bodies of members of the Air Force who were killed while sleeping. Many aeroplanes were damaged by falling hangars. "Quetta is utterly destroyed, scarcely a building standing," said MajorGeneral Karslake, commanding the troops in Quetta, whom the "Daily Dispatch" interviewed by telephone. "We are working day and night dragging out the dead and injured. Thus far we have recovered the bodies of 200 Europeans and Anglo-Indians and 3000 Indians." The fires which followed the shake are subsiding-owing to everything inflammable having been burned. Lorries, loaded with corpses, are proceeding to cremation centres. : Harrowing stories are told of whole families buried beneath the ruins. The Air Force deaths how total 50. A British official wireless message says that wireless reports received state that in Quetta, which lias a population of 34.000 and is the seat of the administration as well as an important' military centre, the ■ native houses crashed like a pack of cards in the violence of the shock, burying their occupants in (lie debris. The earthquake was felt with equal severity In civil lines and in the Royal Air Force area, which lie to the west of the city, but the military area lying to the north was only slightly damaged, and, so far as is known, no mili J tajy officers or their families were among the injured.

The casualties among the troops were also slight, and throughout the day the men of the British and Indian regiments have been working feverishly to convey succour and to establish some semblance of order among the thousands of distracted refugees. They succeeded in providing temporary accommodation for many of the destitute in camps, which were hurriedly erected on the racecourse and in the grounds of the Residency.

The King has sent a message of sympathy from the Queen and himself to the Baluchistan earthquake sufferers. He says: "Our hearts go out in sympathy to the bereaved and injured, and io those whose homes and property have been destroyed.' He asked the Viceroy to keep him Informed of any further news. Among other messages sent the Secretary for India has telegraphed his profound regret and heartfelt sympathy j with all sufferers, especially the relatives of those whose deaths are reported. Air Ministry bulletins issued in London regarding Quetta resemble wartime casualty lists. The greatest distress has been caused to the families of members of the Air Force throughout England. In an earlier Press Association message it was stated that the epicentre is believed to have been in South Afghanistan. 150 miles north-west of Quetta, which was the severest sufferer. All communications were broken, lint wireless messages report that the city was devastated, and that over 1000 people were killed, including prominent European Government officials and wives and children. The whole police fofee is said to have been wiped out. The Staff College, it is understood, was not severely affected. All the staff officers are safe. The town of Mashing, about 30 miles from Quetta., was destroyed, fourfifths of the population being killed. Severe damage was done to the surrounding villages. It was in the civil lines that Mr. Meredith .Tones, of the Indian Civil Service, his wife and mother-in-law, and Mr. Francis, of the Irrigation Service, and his wife lost their lives. Many officials had extremely narrow escapes, among them Sir Norman Cator, Agent to the Governor-General in Baluchistan. It is also reported that the town of Mastnng. 40 miles south of Quetta, was completely destroyed, and that, fourfifths of its population were killed, the same fate overtaking the neighbouring villages. Apart from the towns Baluchistan is sparsely populated, and no information is yet available as to the damage in the* outlying districts. Sir Norman Cator has broadcast a wireless appeal to all provincial headquarters for the urgent dispatch of medical relief, and immediately news of the disaster was received doctors and nurses were dispatched by the Punjab Government to the scene by the quickest available routes. Toll of Air Force Men. A Press Association message from Condon states that the Air Ministry announces that the Air Force earthquake casualties comprise one officer and 33 men killed, and 12 men who are missing, believed to have been killed.

Advice from Quetta states that the European casualties number 100 killed and 200 injured. The residents tell of scenes of terror when disaster overwhelmed the sleeping city.

A roar like a mighty cataract or twenty express trains presaged the catastrophe which brought down substantial buildings and Indian huts on all sides, the destruction reaching a scale almost inconceivable, accompanied by the frantic cries. of injured and imprisoned families. A wide area is becoming an extensive graveyard. Everv minute saw deeds of great heroism amid the crazy ruins. The majority of the inhabitants of Mastung wore crushed to death. Kalat is a wilderness, honeycombed with corpses. The Post and Telegraph buildings and the residential and bazaar quarters of Quetta were devastated. The damage is reported to exceed that of the Bihar earthquake of last year, but the loss of life is not considered as heavy. A Calcutta message says the latest and most •reliable estimate oi casualties is between 10,000 and 15 000. British deaths reported total 200, while 200 patients were killed when the general hospital collapsed. Casualties in (fie NorthWestern Railway, staff are veij heavy. The deifd include 20 Europeans. with their families, and 100 Indians with their families. While the earthquake news is conflicting, a* Karachi message says a hundred British soldiers were killed at Quetta, many British citizens wen. admitted to the hospital and otheis are missing. Quetta native city was razed, with the loss of 90 per cent, of the population. Official Government of India figures show these casualties. Dead. 72 British and 3000 Indians; injured’ 92 British and 1500 Indians; raissiiig, 30 British, but the Indians missing are not estimated. It appears that the earthquake occurred in the -10-mile valley from Masking to Quetta. Tlie latest horror in the earthquake area is an extensive fire which is ragin,, in the Indian bazaar, the flimsy shops and buildings being consumed like matchwood, hampering the rescue efforts of British and Indian troops. It is believed that hundreds of injured persons were trapped in the buildings and burned to death. Fortunately the railways were only slightly damaged, and an emergency service is operating. Royal Air Force and private planes left Karachi with relief workers and comforts. Quetta, being an important frontier centre, was amply provided with food and hospital facilities. The Government of India fears an appalling death-roll. The meterological station at Quetta was destroyed and the.chief officers and three children were killed. The Indian casualties include the Nawab, Sir Shams Shah,and five assistant commissioners of Kalat town. Miri palace is destroyed, but the Khan is safe. Martial law has been proclaimed in the earthquake area. Water is gushing from fissures, causing flooding.

The majority of the casualties occurred in the congested native city, where the houses toppled one upon another. The panic-stricken inhabitants rushed out into the narrow streets, where they were overwhelmed as the structures crashed.

Refuge camps have been established on the racecourse and grounds of the Residency, where Sir Alexander Cator previously had a miraculous escape in escaping with his household as the bungalow fell like a pack of cards. The casualties to mom tiers of the Royal Air Force do not include officers. The shocks were felt in all the upper districts of the Sind. The people, hurled from their beds, ran into the open. SISTER IN QUETTA Member of Indian Hockey Team A member of the All-India hockey team now touring New Zealand, Mr. Harbail Singh, learned from ‘’The Dominion” on Saturday morning of the disaster in Baluchistan. Mr. Harbail Singh, who lias a sister and a brother-in-law in Quetta, was visibly distressed while he was watching the match against Wellington on Saturday afternoon. “1 am very troubled,” he said in conversation with a "Dominion” representative. "I immediately dispatched a cable to Quetta to learn what, news of my relatives I may gain. But I’m afraid there is little hope if the first reports are borne out by later ones. My brother-in-law is a wealthy man and a contractor to the Government. I fear that even if my sister and he have survived they will have lost their property.” Mr. Harbail Singh, who is a professor iff Khnlsa College, Northern India, visited his sister in Quetta in 1031. when an earthquake, though not a serious one, occurred. Twice before Baluchistan has experienced earthquake shocks, but none of any severity.