Tents are most needed in the northern Pakistani city of Balacot which was flattened in a strong earthquake on Oct. 8, said Mayor Syed Junaid Qasin here Saturday.

He told Xinhua that almost every family of the 30,000 residents in the city of Balacot and over 80 percent of the 350,000 people in tehsil Balacot had been affected. He urged the international community to provide them with tents for shelter.

He also estimated that the death toll in Balacot might rise to 20,000, adding that the official death toll would come out in 10 to 15 days.

Having been the tehsil nazim, mayor, for four years and reelected in October, Qasin said Balacot had entered into a stage of rehabilitation. Tent villages are being set up around the area,he added.

Source: Xinhua