1935 Balochistan Earthquake - Rescue Efforts

Rescue Efforts

Tremendous losses were incurred on the city in the days following the event. On streets, people lay dead, buried beneath the debris some still alive. British regiments were scattered around town to rescue people, an impossible task as 1st Queen's remember. While assisting in rescue efforts, Lance-Sergeant Alfred Lungley of the 24th Mountain Brigade earned the Empire Gallantry Medal for highest gallantry.

The weather did not prove to be of much help and the scorching summer heat made matters worse. Bodies of European and Anglo-Indians were recovered and buried into a British cemetery where soldiers had dug trenches. Padres performed the burial service in haste as soldiers would cover the graves quickly. Others were removed in the same way and taken to a nearby shamshāngāht for their remains to be cremated.

While the soldiers excavated through the debris for a sign of life, the Government issued the Quetta administration with instructions to build a tent city to house the homeless survivors and to provide shelter to their rescuers. A fresh supply of medicated pads was brought forth for the soldiers to wear over their mouths while they dug for bodies in fears of a spread of disease from the dead bodies buried underneath.

  • Images of life after the quake

  • Initial medical set ups were established near the railway station to help provide first aid to the survivors. A tent city was built in the vicinity.

  • The tent city was erected to house the thousands of homeless survivors and also the rescue workers.

  • image shows the gates of the ruined Kabari Market when the earthquake struck. Commercial operation were hit badly.

  • Opera Talkies, a cinema set up for the recreation of the soldiers was destroyed in the quake.

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