PAKISTAN: Men, women and children in Karachi hold walk to support the people of tsunami-hit Japan

Record ID: 1519187

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Men, women and children in Karachi hold walk to support the people of tsunami-hit Japan
  • Date: 21st March 2011
  • Summary: BANNER READING (JAPANESE) "CHEER UP JAPAN" MEN AND WOMEN WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAWYER, ZIA AHMED AWAN, SAYING: "This is all in solidarity with the victims of the tsunami in Japan, and also the earthquake. We are very sorry about that and we feel that Pakistani nation is with them. We have all the sympathies and solidarity with them."
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2011 12:07
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVABVCOQOJUWXDE5O1BTLNQ28OP9
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Scores of Pakistanis held a walk on Sunday (March 20) in the biggest city Karachi to express solidarity with quake and tsunami affected people of Japan.
    The walk was organised by the Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association Sindh, and the Pakistan Japan Business Forum.
    Holding national flags of Pakistan and Japan -- men, women and children marched several kilometers near a beach in the port city.
    They held banners and placards encouraging the Japanese to stay strong during this time of tragedy.
    "Saluting the resilience of Japanese, the worst earthquake can't break the toughest nation", a banner read.
    "Japan is facing a big calamity. Now, it is our turn to show our love and togetherness which will help them recover from the disaster. We want to say that Pakistanis are with them," said Mohammad Azmat Attaka, who organised the walk.
    The participants also observed a two-minute silence for the quake and tsunami victims.
    Casualties from the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami have reached 8,133, while 12,272 people are still missing, Japanese officials said.
    "This is all in solidarity with the victims of Tsunami in Japan, and also the earthquake. We are very sorry about that and we feel that Pakistani nation is with them. We have all the sympathy and solidarity with them," lawyer Zia Ahmed Awan said.
    "We want that everybody in Japan should be together again, and we are with Japan," Beenish Zia, a college student said.
    Some donations were also announced during the walk.
    The vice consul at the Consulate General of Japan in Karachi, Toshikazu Isomura, thanked the participants for their compassion.
    "We are thankful to our friends who organised this walk to express sympathy and solidarity with our people," he said.
    Japan made some progress on Sunday in its race to avert disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant leaking radiation after an earthquake and tsunami that are estimated to have killed more than 15,000 people in one prefecture alone last week.
    The nuclear crisis aggravates the pressure on Japanese authorities to provide relief to some 390,000 people, including many among Japan's ageing population, who were left homeless by the double disaster. Evacuees are battling near-freezing temperatures in shelters in northeastern coastal areas. Food, water, medicine and heating fuel are in short supply.
    Some Pakistanis living in Japan volunteered their help in evacuation shelters and cooked curry for the survivors. They said they wanted to help Japan in dealing with the calamity, because the Japanese provided assistance after the Kashmir earthquake in 2005, which killed 79,000 people.
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