Kashmir earthquake - Little Ishfaq reunited with his family
07/10/2006
Four-year-old Ishfaq was at home with his three older brothers (eleven-year-old Ilyas, Sajjad, 10 and Ikhlaq, 8) and both of his parents when the devastating earthquake struck. The parents were inside and the boys were playing outside when suddenly the earth shook and the roof of the house caved in.
In the chaos that followed, the older three siblings thought that both of their parents and little Ishfaq had been buried in the sea of rubble that had once been their home. However, only the dead body of the mother was found.
The three boys were able to find their uncle who put them in the care of SOS Children’s Villages. Our Search and Rescue team took the brothers to the SOS Emergency Shelter in Rawalpindi. On 4 January 2006, SOS Children’s Villages was informed that the father of the boys had been found alive, but that he was severely injured and in hospital.
Only the fate of little Ishfaq was still unknown. However, on 15 February 2006, the uncle contacted the Search and Rescue team with the good news that Ishfaq had been located. Army officials had found the small boy on the streets and had airlifted him to a nearby hospital for treatment. In February, Ishfaq was brought back to his hometown of Kathachoghali near Muzaffarabad and reunited with his three brothers at the SOS Emergency Relief Shelter in Rawalpindi.
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Relevant Countries: Pakistan.