Couple caught in Pakistan quake drama

HOLIDAY fright . . . Shazia Hussain and Muhammad Rafaqat, from Oldham, were in Pakistan when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit

AN OLDHAM mother of three says she feels lucky to be alive after experiencing the devastating Pakistan earthquake.

Shazia Hussain (29), currently on holiday with her husband Muhammad Rafaqat (32), was out on Monday afternoon with her husband and his father in Dadyal in the Mirpur district of Azad Kashmir.

They had just ordered lunch when they felt tremors.

The couple, from Glodwick, were on the periphery of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that affected Afghanistan and Pakistan and claimed 370 lives while destroying thousands of homes.

“I didn’t think it was an earthquake,” said Shazia, a supply teaching assistant. “I thought I was going dizzy. My father in law told us it was an earthquake. That’s when I got scared. All I could think of was my children back home in Oldham.

“I felt so helpless as there was absolutely nothing we could do. I think it must have lasted about a minute but it felt like a lifetime. Eventually when it did stop I wouldn’t dare move or speak.”

Rescue workers have been struggling to reach some of the mountainous areas.