Student on phone when earthquake hit

Pakistani, Muslim communities rally to support victims

 

“At first, I thought it was a small tremor,” Haroon Khan said. “We’d experienced magnitude four or five quakes. Then I got scared.”

His mother was talking to him on the phone from Islamabad, just 100 km away from the epicentre of last Saturday’s devastating earthquake that has reportedly killed 30,000 people so far. Khan was in the safety of his home in Montreal, frustrated by his inability to help.

“She said, It’s really shaking hard and we have to get out of the house,” said Khan, 23, who came to Canada a year ago to study mechanical engineering at Concordia. And then she hung up.

He called back an hour later, and was relieved to hear the sound of her voice.

Khan said his mother was able to escape injury because she lived in a one-storey house.

Childhood friend missing

He is now concerned with the fate of a childhood friend who hasn’t been heard from since Saturday. He is not surprised that aid is taking time to reach the victims.

“I know what it’s like there,” he said. “There are mountains. There are no roads there.”

Three days after the destruction in his hometown, Khan is doing what he can to assist in relief efforts. Like other member of Concordia’s Pakistani and Muslim community, he spent Tuesday on a corner of Mackay St. and de Maisonneuve Blvd asking for donations.

He was gratified by the response, as many passersby emptied their pockets of loose change into makeshift donation boxes. One man stuffed in a wad of $10 bills.

Thankful for aid

Khan said he is thankful to the Canadian government for the $20 million promised in aid. As of Tuesday, Canadians had donated $118,000 to survivors through the Red Cross.

So far, no international students at Concordia have sought assistance or support through her office, according to Isabelle Lacelle, Co-ordinator for the International Students Office.

Lacelle said advising is available for international students affected by the earthquake at the ISO, which will also refer students to Counselling and Development and Health Services as necessary.

Haig Balian, with additional reporting by Allison Martens